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I.I 


1.25 


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v.    1113  2 


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2.2 
2.0 


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Photographic 

Sdences 
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D 
D 


□ 


7\ 


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n 


D 


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lOX 

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18X 

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16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


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la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
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symbole  V  signifie  "FIN". 


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beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
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Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  §tre 
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de  I'angle  supirieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

i 


il 


GEOGRAPHIC    MONOGRAPH 

PREPARED  UNUKR  THK  AU.SIMCEiS   nr  THE 

NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  SOCIETY 

GARDINER  G.  HUBBARD,  PRESIDENT. 


NIAGARA  FALLS  AND  THEIR  HISTORY 


HY 

PROF.   G.    K.    GILBERT, 

U.  S.  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY. 


NOTE. -Separate  Copies  of  this  Paper  can  be  purchased  from  the  American 
Book  Company.  New  York  City,  at  twenty  cents  per  Copy. 


-J 


I        I 


I     >  • : 


NIAGARA   FALLS   AND   TllEIL'    [[ISTOlx'V 


I^v  (i.  K.  (iiij!i;K"i 


Thk  .li'rcjit   catai'iH't   is   tlu'  ('iiil)O(lniioiit  of 

|»o\vej'.     Ill    ('V<'iy   sccoi.d,  luicfiisiiinly,  scncii 

liousaiid  tons  of  wat<M'  leap  fi-oiti  a  clirt'  one 

liniidrtMl  and  sixty  feet  liij^ii,  and  tin-  coiitinu- 

ons  l)lo\v  llicy  strik<'  makes  the  earth  ti-cinldc. 

Ft  is  a  s))('<4acl('  (*f 
,i;"i'eat  beauty.  The 
(dear,  .ii'i'een,  ))oui'in,L;' 
stream,  forced  \\\\]\ 
<<;voy\'h]^  speed  au'aiiist 


I'liythiuic  jets  whii-h 
burst  and  spread  till 
all  the  u'reeu  is  lost  in 
uAvhite  (doud  of  spray, 
on  wlii<di  the  raiid)o\v 
floats.  lts(diannsare 
the  theme  of  many 
a  _i>'ifted  bard  and 
artist,  but  the  fusciiia- 
tion  of  its  eve)'-vai'ii'(l 
yet  continuous  mo- 
tion, aud  the  a\ve  that 
waxes  rather  than 
wanes  with  familiarity,  are  not  to  lie  felt  at  secoud-liand;  and  so 
the  woi'ld,  in  lonj>' procession,  ^'oes  to  see.  Among'  the  multitude 
there  are  some  whose  appi'eciation  of  its  power  has  a  utilitai'ian 
lihase,  so  that  they  think  most  of  the  myriad  wheels  of  industiy 
its  energy  may  some  day  turn;  and  tliere  are  a  few  wlio  ivcog- 


the 


air,    pai'ts     into 


Fi.i.  1. 


AiiU'i'iciui  Full  from  below. 


(Copyright,  I.St).'),  liy  Aun'rioaii  Book  Com[)aiiy.) 


L'<)4 


NiA(i.\i;A   i-Ai.i.s  AM"   iim;!!;  liisroiiv. 


iii/.«'  it  ;is  a  .uivat  iiatui'al  t'li^iiir,  ami  in  its  activity  and  its  siii'- 
roiiiKliii.us  sec  an  iiupvcssivc  olij.  rt  lesson  ot'^vo^iiTaphic  pro^Tcss. 
Its  a'sthctic  and  ntilitafian  asjifcts  need  no  «'Xi>onnd<'i",  l)nt  its 
iivoiivaiiliif  siiiiiilicancc  is  too  little  a|H>i-eeiated.     This  [»a[»eren- 

deavol'S  to  tell   ill   simple   lansi'Ua.liV  some   of  the   loiv  of  tiie   )»)■()- 

I'essional  p'o,i>i'a[iher  and  yvoloiiist,  in  order  that  the  layman 
may  ^ain  pleasni-e  not  only  from  the  lieanly  and  ,i>Tandeiir  of 
ihe  scene,  ImiI  thron^ii  understaiidinii'  its  nieanin.u'  as  a  jiart  in 
the  ^reat  drama  of  nature. 

Nature  is  fidl  of  chanp'.  The  laid  we  >a\v  yester<iay  is  a 
(lower  t(»-day;  the  leaf  that  was  hroad  and  ^i-eeii  in  sumniei-,  in 
aiitttnin  is  sjiriveled  and  lirowii  ;  the  laish  we  knew  in  clnldliood 
is  now  a  laita<l,  spreadin.ii'  tree.  Such  chaiiji'es  are  easily  seen, 
liecause  tlu'y  fall  within  the  s[.an  «»f  a  man's  life,  and  so  the 
[irinciple  of  ]ier]ietnal  ])ro,i>ress  in  the  oi-i;anic  world  is  f'aniiliar 
to  all.  I'roiii'ess  in  the  inorji'anic  world  is  so  slow  that  it  is  less 
easily  seen,  and  tlieiv  is  a  wides]ire;id  im|)ression  that  the  hills 
;ire  everlasliiii;'  and  niH-lianji-in,n'.  This  inii»vession  is  false.  Not 
only  hills  Imt  mountains,  jilains,  and  valleys,  are  jtei-petually 
jicted  on  l)y  heat  and  cold,  sunshine  and  rain,  Avind  and  stream, 
and  are  ,-j,radually  chanii'ed.  X.»t  only  do  tliey  now  iin(h^rj>;-o 
chanue.  1m1  !iy  such  a.iivnts  each  feature  was  oi-iginally  formed, 
and  hv  >\\i-\\  aii'ents  it  will  eventually  he  transformed  into  a 
feature  of  different  tyi»e.  Thus  every  element  of  the  landseai»e 
has  an  oriiiin  aial  a  history.  To  relate  these  is  to  explain  it. 
This  monouraiih  may  he  repirdec]  as  an  ex]>lanatory  account  of 
Niaii'ara  Falls  and  tlie  associated  natural  features. 


11  ii:  J)KaixactE  system. 

The  drainaii'e  system  of  the  St.  Lawrence  is  of  exceptional 
cliaracter.  in  most  re^'ions  the  freshly  fallen  rain  n'atht'rs  into 
rills;  tlu'se,  as  they  run,  join  one  with  anotlier,  making- hrooks ; 
brooks  are  united  into  i-ivei's;  and  rivers  fl(»wto  the  sea.  In  all 
its  joui-ney  fr(»m  the  hillside  to  the  sea,  the  water  moves  forward 
without  halt.  This  uninterrupted  journey  is  rendered  possible 
l»y  a  wonderful  adjustment  of  sl(»]tes.  The  channel  of  the  rill 
slojtes  towar<l  the  brook,  the  bed  of  the  ]>i'ook  slopes  toward  the 
river,  and  the  river  bed  slopes  toward  the  sea.  Impelled  by 
gravity  to  flow  downhill,  the  Avater  moves  contiimally  forward 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  its  journey.     In  the  draiiuigo 


TJIF.    UKAlNAdi:    SYSTEM, 


lu:) 


(listi'ict  of  tlu'  St.  Ljnvvt'ii'-o  tliciv  is  no  sndi  continuity  of  slo]i('. 
Tilt'  district  is  comitosi'd  mainly  of  a  <>'fouj»  of  <;iTat  liasiii-likc 
hollows,  ill  cacli  of  wliicli  llic  sui'facc  slopes  toward  sonu'  central 
point,  ai;<l  not  toward  the  month  of  the  rivei'.  Kacli  hasiu  is 
Idled  with  water  to  the  level  of  the  lowest  ]>oiiit  of  its  rim,  and 
ca(di  of  the  hd-  >  thus  formed  is  a  storage  reservoir  receiviii.u'  a 
ui'ou]»  of  streams  from  the  sni-roundiny  country,  and  ponriiiii'  an 
even  discharge  over  its  rim  to  one  of  its  nei^hhors.  Lakes 
Sujterior  and  ]Mieliiprn  di^charu'e  to  Lake  Huron;  Huron  over- 
(lows  to  Erie;  and  Erie,  liavinu'  thus  received  all  the  outflow  n\' 
the  up]ier  and  .yreater  lakes,  sends  its  snriilus  throu^'h  the  Nia,ii'- 
ara  to  Ontario.  The  Nia.yara  Kiver  is  thus,  fi-om  one  ]>oint  of 
view,  a  strait  connectinti' two  inland  seas;  fi-oin  another  point  of 
view,  it  is  a  part  of  tlio  St.  Lawrence  Iiiver,  —  the  i>ai't  conne<'t- 
in.ii'  two  urciit  expansions.  N'jewed  ejihei'  way,  it  departs  so 
widely  from  the  ordinary  or  normal  river  that  its  name  is  almost 
misleadiiii;-. 

In  a  normal  tlraina.uv  systi'in  the  sloi»e  is  not  everywhere 
eipially  stee]):  it  is  u'eiitler  ill  th<'  Ked  of  the  main  stream  than  in 
the  Iteds  of  tributaries,  and  it  varies  from  point  to  point  >o  that 
the  current,  es]»ecially  at  low  water,  shows  an  alternation  of 
rai>id  an<l  <juiet  reaches.  The  stream-  of  the  Laureiitian  ,-\stein 
not  only  exhilat  these  alternations,  Unt  have  many  cataracts 
whei'e  the  v»-ater  cascades  down  a  rocky  stairway  or  lea[»s  fi'oiii 
the  }>rink  of  a  cliff. 

A  normal  river  receives  most  of  its  water  directly  from  rain 
or  meltiiiii'  snow,  and  varies  Avith  the  season,  swellin,i;'  to  a  Hood 
ill  time  of  storm  or  at  the  spriii.<;'  snow  meltiiijn',  and  (hvindlin,-i' 
to  relative  insio'iiilicaiice  in  time  of  di'oUiiht.  Tlie  water  of 
Nia,ii'ara  comes  only  remotely  from  storm  and  thaw.  Tlie  Hoods 
of  the  triliutaries  are  storeil  hy  the  lakes,  to  whose  broad  sur- 
faces they  add  l»ut  a  thin  layer.  The  volume  of  Niag-ara  deiiends 
only  on  the  heiu'lit  of  Lake  Erie  at  Lutfalo,  and  from  season  to 
season  this  lu'iiiht  varies  but  little.  On  rare  occasions  a  westerly 
uale  will  crowd  the  lake  water  toward  its  eastern  end,  and  the 
rivei'  wdl  gTOW  larji'e.  On  still  rarer  occasions  a  winter  stoi-m 
will  so  pile  nil  or  jam  the  lake  ice  at  the  entrance  to  the  river  as 
to  make  a  (him,  and  for  a  (hiy  or  two  the  river  will  lose  most  of 

its  water. 

A  normal  rivei',  with  its  continuous  current,  rolls  forward  the 
peb))les  loosened  by  its  tributaries  till  they  reach  its  mouth. 


i 


206 


NIAdAlIA    lAl.l.s    ANI>    1111:11;    IIIS'ldKV, 


The  rains  that  make  it^  lldods  (lislod.nv  pai'tif-Ics  of  soil,  and  wasli 
tlirni  into  lilt'  tiiI)UlaiM<'s  in  sndi  niultitnde  that  tliry  <lisco|or 
the  watt'i-,  'riic  |M'l)li|('s  of  its  IumJ  and  the  mnd  with  which  it  is 
disco|(,rc(|  arc  tin'  i'i\-ci''s  load,  wjiich  it  ti'anspoi'ts  fi'oni  the  face 
of  tlu'  land  to  the  bed  of  the  sea.  The  triltutaries  of  Nia,ii'ara 
carry  theic  loads  oidy  to  the  lakes,  Avhcre  the  loads  sink,  and  lea\e 
the  water  pure,  Thus  Niajiara  is  ever  clear,  ISometinies,  when 
storm  waves  lash  the  shoi'esof  Ki'ie,  a  little  sand  is  waslicd  to  the 
liead  of  the  I'ivei',  and  cai'ried  downsti'cani ;  sonietinies  a  little 
uiud  is  washed  iido  the  rivei'  l>y  the  small  creeks  that  ivadi  its 
liaid<s.  Thus  Niagara  is  not  al>solutely  devoid  of  load,  hut  its 
burden  is  so  minute  tliat  it  is  hai'd  to  detect. 


A  /'   ^    '■' 


'I'llK    'IWO    I'LAIXS, 

From  Lake  Ei-ie  to  Lake  Ontario  the  Xia<i'ai'a  runs  uortli- 
Avai'd.     ^J'he  lonyvr  axes  of  the  lakes  trend  ueaiiy  east  and  west, 

and  the  lakes  lap  past  eacli 
other  for  a  distance  of  f(»rty 
miles,  iHcludin«il)etw<'eii  their 
pa i-allel  shores  a  strijtof  land 
alxmt  twenty-five  miles  \\'u\i\ 
This  stiip,  whei'e  the  river 
crosses  it,  consists  of  two 
plains,  sliar])ly  separated  by 
a  cliff  or  escarpment.  Tlie 
rehitions  of  the  plains  to  the 
escarpment  and  to  tlie  lakes 
ai'e  shown  by  the  maj)  (Fiti'.  2) 
and  the  bii'd's-c_\-e  view  (Fig.  4).  The  upper  and  l))'()ader  plain 
has  a  g'ently  undulating-  surface,  which  does  not  differ  greatly  in 
height  from  the  surface  of  Lake  Erie.  Along  the  shore  of  that 
lake  it  rises  in  a  low  ridge,  and  there  is  also  a  gentle  rise  toward 
the  <^scarpment.  Its  middle  ])art  is  di-ained  l)v  two  sluii'ii'ish 
creeks,  —  the  Tonawanda,  flowing  to  the  river  from  the  east ;  and 
the  Chippewa,  from  the  west.  The  lower  and  narrowei-  plain 
follows  the  shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  and  I'ises  gently  thence  to  the 
foot  of  the  escarpment.  Its  ui)per  i)art  is  of  rolling  contour,  like 
the  u]>per  plain  ;  its  lower  is  remai'ka1)ly  snumtli  and  even,  having 
once  been  the  l)ed  of  a  lak<".  The  escarpment  is  a  steep  slope 
about  two  hundred  feet  high.    Near  the  top  it  is  generally  a  rocky 


•Ki. 


-Xiiiiriira   K'ivcr  and  \'ic'iiiit\- 


•I'm;  TWO  I'l.AiNs. 


•Jo; 


cliff,  iiiviii^'a  sliiii'itlx  .lofiiit'd  hotnidiiry  to  tln>  n]»]MM'  ]ilalii :  iit  tlif 
Itottoiii  it  iiU'i'jiTs  iiisciisildy  wiili  the  iowci'  plain. 

TIk'sc  sui't'acc  tVatni't's  ai'f  <l<'(iiiit»'ly  I'olatt'tl  not  (Hily  t<»  llif 
pcculiai'itics  of  the  v'wcy,  l»iit  to  tli<'  rocky  framework  of  llic 
couiiti'y.  The  I'ocks  arc  (lat  layci-s  oi'  strata  I'cstin;;'  oiic  upoii 
another,  and  of  nearly  nnifoi-ni  thickness  for  .yreat  distances. 
Nearly  Init  not  ([uite  level,  they  slo))e  u'cntly  towai'd  the  south; 
tlie  descent,  (»r  di|>,  amounting'  (Mi  the  avera<;'e  to  thii'ty-fi\'e  feet 
per  mile.  Their  arrann'cnieiit  is  illustrated  l)y  V\<x,  .'1,  wjiicli  nircs 
ji  iiorth-and-south  profile,  with  such  a  section  of  the  formations 


LAHE 

EHIL 


Upper 


Plain 


CSCARPM  tNT 

\ 


LAK£ 
Law»r     Plain  onTAfiiO 


I'lii.  r..  —  I'lotili'  ami  Sccfidii   I'nnn   liiikc  to  Lnki'. 
Vciiiciil  scul(>  {ti'ciifi'i'  tliiiu  liorizdiitiil.    Biisi'  line  ri'iiresfiitH  mu  li'Vil. 

as  u.i.ii'ht  lie  seen  if  a  xcry  d<'e)i  ti'cncli  were  du.ii'  from  lake  to 
lake.  The  heavy  line  at  the  left,  and  the  helt  helow  dix'ided  into 
blocks,  re]iresent  limestones,  rix'ks  notahly  hard  and  stronii", 
while  the  int erven iui-'  spaces  aic  occupied  chielly  1>\'  shales, 
which  ai'c  relatively  soft  and  weak.  ( )riuiiially  all  the  forma- 
tions extendetl  farthei'  to  the  north,  hut  they  ha\e  lieen  woi'n 
away;  and,  since  the  soft  rocks  were  remoxed  niore  easily  than 
the  hard,  the  edu'es  of  the  hard  ai'c  left  somewhat  |ironnnent. 
This  association  of  hard  rocks  with  uplands  and  cliffs  is  not  rare, 
hut  is  ratlicr  the  mile  in  inlly  and  mountainous  disti'icts.  Tu  the 
last  itrecediuji'  monog'ra))li  of  this  series,  ^Ir.  Willis  descrihes  the 
l)lateaus  and  I'id.u'cs  of  the  Appalachian  district,  showinii,-  how 
frost  and  storm  slowly  hut  persistently  ate  out  the  soft  ro(d<s, 
and  tlu'  rock  waste  was  washed  into  streams,  till  valleys  and 
lowland  ]tlains  wim'c  made. 

The  hiiiher  of  the  two  limestones  presenieil  in  the  dian'ram  is 
calU'd  the  Corniferous  limestone.  It  makes  a  low  ridi^v  alouij,' 
the  north  shore  of  Lake  EiMi-,  and  dijis  heiieath  the  lake.  The 
Salina  sliales  occupy  the  middle  part  of  the  upi»er  plain,  and  di)) 
licneatli  the  CoiMiiferous.  The  second  limestone,  called  the 
Xia,ii'ara  limestone,  constitutes  the  noilhern  ]>ai-t  of  the  uppei' 
plahi,  and  the  escari>ment  everywhei'e  niai'ks  its  nortliei'n  limit. 
Its  full  thickness  is  about  a  hundred  and  forty  feet,  luit  in  some 
places  it  has  Iteen  ,ui'eatly  I'cduced  by  the  wastin.i-'  of  its  upiM'i- 
surface,     IJelow  it  is  a  ureat   seiies  of  mud   rocks  or  shales,  a 


•JOS 


NI.V(.Ai;.\    I'Al.l.s    AM'    IIII.IK    IIISKHJV. 


tllfHlSillMl  feet  thick,  illt<'l-l'II|>1t'il  IK'JII'  the  t(>l»  liVJl  few  lllill  ImmIs 
1)1'    lillirstoiii'    iillii    sniMlstolit'.       'I'licsc    sllJllt'S    occupy    llic    lower 

part  o|'  the  csciir|»iiiciit  iiml  tlic  wliolc  of  the  lower  phiiii.     Their 

softness   illld    the    liiirdliess  of   the    Niaiiai'il    lilliestolie  iiUiiled    the 

erosi\('  a.u'eiits  in  iiiakiiiu'  the  e>-carpnieiit  and  thi'  lower  plain. 

(  Ker  all  this  I'ocky  I'oundation  lies  a  inant le  of  loose  material. 
— clay,  sand,  u'l'ax'el,  and  bowlders, — collecti\-ely  calleil  the  dfifi. 
its  oi'diiiai'y  thickness  is  thirty  or  forty  feet  :  1  d  tlieie  ai'e  p!ace>. 
especially  on  top  of  tin-  escarpment,  where  it  is  nearly  al»ent,  and 
elsewlii-re  it  lills  hollows  or  is  liuilt  into  hills  with  a  thickness  of 
se\'eral  hnmlred  feet.  It  was  spread  o\ei'  t  he  count  i'\' after  the 
broader  featui'es  of  the  to|ioMrai>h\'  had  heeu  shaped,  and  the 
au'ency  1»\'  which  it  was  de|iosite(l  was  movinu'  ice,  a^  will  he 
explained  a  little  later. 

TIIF,    IITVF.i;    AMI    'IIIF,   (lOlidF.. 

From  Lake  Rri(>  the  Niauai'a  lvi\ei-  runs  over  a  low  say  in  the 
i'id<ie  of  Coruifei'ons  limestone.     Where  the  current  crosses  this 

rocky  harrier,  it  is  rapid  and  dis- 
turbed. Thence  t'or  lifteen  miles 
it  (lows  alioNe  shales,  but  rarely 
touches  them,  the  baid<s  and  bed 
coiisistinii'  chiejly  of  di'ift.  The 
channel  is  broad,  an<l  the  watei' 
ulides  alonu'  with  uinT(ftle(l  sur- 
face.      Tllell,     a      little     below     the 

mouth  of  ('hii>iM'wa  ("reek,  the 
Xiaii'ara  limestone  a[»pears  in  the 
bed,  and  the  whole  habit  of  the 
stream  is  ([uickl\"  chaniied.  Foi' 
a  thousand  yai'ils  it  is  a  broad, 
roai'iuu'  rajml,  tumblinu'  o\ei'  one 
ledu'e  after  anothei'  with  tumultu- 
ous hasto;  and  then  It  pours 
o\'er  a  ]nvci]»ice  to  the  bottom 
of  a  narrow,  deep,  steep-walled 
H'orye.  For  seviMi  miles  it  courses, 
with  alternation  of  dee]>,  boilinu' 

Fl(!.  4. — 15ir(rs-cvc  \"w\\  of  thi'  Xi-  ,  -,  •    i       j.  •  i 

iiiTiini   Miyvv  from  Lak.'  Oiiti.rio.     Bt-  l"H)ls  aild   Uari'oW,  Violent    rapids. 

Vdiitl  llic  Ontiiiio  slioi'c  me  till-  Lower  tJu-OUSiil    tills    <;'orSiV,    wliose     steeit 
I'litiii.   IvsciU'iiiiii'iit.   Uiiiicr   I'laiii,  iiiul  ,,     '     „  ,    '  i     '  i  ,^ 

Luke  Eri...  Walls  ot  I'ock  tlieii  tui'ti  abruptly 


i 


THE    IMVr.l;    ANI>   TIIF,    (lOUdF,. 


liOl) 


to  the  ri^iit  jiiid  It'll,  iiml   iiici'uv  with   tlir   faiM'  oi'  tl scjirp- 

iiit'iit.  ^riit'iict'  to  Liiki'  (>iit!iiii>  lilt'  width  is  iiinil'-rJilt',  iiml  tii.- 
•  •iiiTciit  is  stroiiii-  iiihl  (li'c|i  liflwt't'ii  s1t't'|i  hiiiiUs  ol'  ri'il  vhiilf 
ciippcd  with  drift. 

Thus  I'ov  two  thivijs  of  its  joiinicy  iicross  thf  ii|i|n'r  iiliiiii  tlif 
ri\('i'  travels  on  ttip  ol'  ihf  plain,  ami  then  for  Ihf  I'ciiiaininu 
tliii'd  it  runs  iVoni  t\\i>  hnndrfd  to  thrt'c  hnndi'cil  feet  lu'low  tlif 
|,liiin  in  a  narrow  nvncli.  'JMiis  conli-ast  is  tin-  ,uvo«iTai>hi<'  t'aft 
on  which  scicnt-ilic  intcrt'st  in  Xiayara  has  ccntfrt'ii,  ami  il>  iin- 
]io)'1aii(*t'  is  not  rcadil)'  oNfrcstiniatcd. 

Thf  walls  of  thf  trench  are  vertical  cliffs  in  their  upitei'  part, 
and  ai'e  Ihei'e  sei'ii  to  tie  composed  of  the  same  limestone  that 
niidiM'lies  the  iilain.     Tiie  limestone  cliffs  are  of  nitMlci'atc  lieiLiht, 


Pi, J.  5. — Cross  Scctiinis  ot'  Xiu^'iir;!  Kivor. 

II    two  milts  Inflow  tUf  cuciinnm'nt :  ''• '»  U"«'  luln•(>wp^<t  |>iirt  of  the  Koruc;  r.  in  ;i  iiioii,!  puit  ct 
the  j-'ortte;  (/,  two  iiiiKs  iilmx  (>  tlif  (iills.    f^ciilf.  iilnmt  ■J.ikmi  fctt  ^  1  iiirli. 

and  from  tlieii'  hase  there  usually  starts  a  talus  or  apron  of  frag- 
ments, which  descends  to  the  I'iver's  etlye.     The  p'lieral  aiti>ear- 
ance  of  the  o'or.ii'e  is  fairly  illustratetl  l»y  the  view  in  Fi.t-.  7.    lietv 
and  there  the   talus  is  scaut   or  alto*i'ether  absent,  so  that   the 
strata,  can  Ix'seen;  and  wherever  tlie\  can  he  seen,  exaniinatii>ii 
shows  the  two  siiles  to  have  the  same  ImmIs,  in  the  same  ortler, 
and  at  the  same  heiii'hts.     First  <'ome  i-ray  shales  aht)Ut  tifty  feet 
thick;  then  a  l.lue-,«i'ray  limesttine  full  of  fossil  shells,  ainl  ten  t>r 
fifteen  feet  thick.     This  is  the  Cliiitoii  limestone  of  .li'eolouisT,-: 
aud  it  is  so  firm,  as  et)m]tared  with  tlie  heds  immeiliately  ahovc 
and  below  it,  that   rain  and  frost   have  affected  it   less,  and  it 
]>ro.iects  iH'Voud  its  i:ei,ii'lib<.rs.     There  are  several  itlaces  wheiv 
the' ed^'e  of  the   bed   is  a  cliff,  tlnni.ii'h   the  ailjaceiit   shales  aiv 
covered  hy  fallen  fra,i>'iuents  (Fi.u'.  (i).    Next  l)elow  are  ureeu-gray 
shales,  with  thin  hmestoue  beds,  aud  a  soft,  j>-ray  san<lstono,  the 
whole  occupyiuii'  a  vertical  s^iace  of  abt^ut  thii'ty  feet :  and  then 
tlie  coh)r  chauii'es  to  a  briglit  re<l,  which  chai-acterizes  tlu>  l(»wer 
lieds.     These  are  chi<'t1y  shales,  but  there  are  soft  sautlstoiies 
aiuou^  them;  aud  tliere  is  one  hard  sandstone  bed,  of  a  pale 


210 


\t;.;iaha  falls  and  thfiu  Hisnutv. 


gray  oolor,  which  stands  out  ]ivoHiiiit'iitly  like  the  ('liiitoii  lime- 
stone, and  f(»i'  th«'  same  reason.  It  is  twenty  feet  or  more  in 
thickness,  lifs  oiu^  Jinndred  and  twenty  feet  below  the  (linton 
limestone,  and  is  called  the  qnartzose  sandstone  (see  Figs.  10  and 
l21).  The  ol)serv(»r  who  sees  these  various  rocks,  hard  and  soft, 
gray  and  red,  matched  bed  for  bed  on  the  ()]»j»osite  sides  of  the 


Fill.  (I. — Clitr  and  Talus  of  Auicrifaii  ]iaiik  aliovc  tlii'  Whirlpool. 

Tbf  Niagara  liniestoiic  aitpoars  in  tlie  uitpcr  cliff;  the  Clinton,  in  the  lower.    Tlie 
quartzose  saudstoue  is  not  seen,  UfinK  lu'low  tlie  water. 

gorge,  and  who  studies  tlieni  a1  tlie  angh's  of  the  walls,  so  as  to 
realize  that  each  is  a  great  level  plate,  which,  if  continued  through 
the  air,  would  l»ridge  the  chasm  to  its  companion  in  the  ojiposite 
wall,  never  doubts  that  the  rock  beds  were  originally  continuous, 
and  that  the  gorge  is  of  later  origin.  As  to  the  way  in  which 
the  gorge  was  made,  there  has  been  some  dit^'ercMice  of  opinion. 
One  or  two  writers  have  thought  it  was  a  crack  of  the  earth 
violently  rent  apart,  and  one  or  two  others  have  thought  it  was 
washed  <;ut  by  ocean  tides;  but  the  prevailing  ojnniou  is  that  it 
was  made  by  the  river  that  flows  through  it,  and  this  opinion  is 
so  well  grounded  that  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to  considei-  its 
rivals  in  this  place.  Thi;  agency  of  the  river  is  shown  by  the 
modern  recession  of  the  cataract,  by  banks,  terraces,  gravels,  and 
shells,  marking  earlier  positions  <if  the  river  bed,  and  by  a  clifh" 


it 


TIIF.    liECESSIOX    OF    THE    t  ATAIiACT. 


211 


over  whicli  jmrt  of  tlu>  river  oiiee  poured  us  a  catiiraet.  It  is 
(lualified  Ijy  a  Iniried  ehainiel  beli^iigiiig"  to  an  earlier  and  differ- 
ent system  of  drainage.  As  these  evidences  are  intimately  con- 
nivted  with  the  history  of  the  cataract  and  river,  they  will  be  set 
foi'tli  somewliat  fully. 

THE  liECESSION    OF   THE    CATAIJACT. 

MoPEiiN  Recession. — The  catai-act  is  divided  unequally  by 
(ioat  Island.  The  part  on  th(»  soutlnvestern  or  Canadian  side  is 
the  broader  and  deeper,  and  is  called  the  Horseshoe  Fall ;  the 


Fl(i.  7. —  Tlio  Goi'go  l)cl<i\v  tlic  WliirliHK)!.  with  I'ail   »(  tlii'  Wiiirljwol  in  the 

Fdfcjrri'iiiKl. 

other  is  the  Am<-ricaii  Kail.  As  shown  by  the  map  (Fi.u'.  l.'»),  llie 
Horseshoe  Fall  is  at  the  end  of  tiie  li'oi'g'e ;  the  American,  at  its 
side.  The  <  liff  over  which  the  water  jiours  is  from  one  hundred 
and  forty  to  (»ne  hundred  and  seventy  feet  hiji'h,  nieasui-ed  from 
the  water  of  the  i-iver  below.  It  is  <-omiM)sed  of  the  Niau'ai-a 
limestone  at  top,  tVom  sixty  to  eighty  feet  thic'';  and  the  shales, 


L'lL> 


nia(;ai;.\  falls  axd  tiieik  iiisToitv. 


etc.,  beneath,  as  ab'eady  desci'ihed.  At  tlie  ed.n'e  of  each  fall, 
where  oik'  can  look  for  a  distance  under  the  sheet  of  descending 
water,  the  liniest<^ne  projects  like  a  cornice  l>eyon<l  the  wall  of 


Fio.  S.  —  The  Hoi'Keslioe  Fall,  t'roio  the  (.'aii;  ili;iii  Bank. 

shale;  so  that  there  is  a  strip  of  the  upper  rock  which  is  not 
directly  supported  by  the  lower,  but  is  sustained  by  its  oavu 
strength.  From  time  to  time  portions  of  this  cornice  have  l)eeu 
seen  to  break  away  and  fall  into  the  pool  of  water  below,  and 
other  fallings  have  made  themselves  known  by  the  earth  tremors 


^^^^^^^_^^^^^L^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

.v,4 

1 

"'i.^.|:iiW?tMfr%4^ 

1 
1 

1 

l''lii.  !l. — Tlic  .Aiiiciicaii   Fall,  from   tlio  (.'aiiadiaii    ilaiiK 


they  produced.  TLsually  the  falling  masses  have  l>een  large;  so 
that  tlieir  subtraction  has  produced  conspicuous  changes  in  the 
contcmr  of  the  cataract,  and  their  dimensions  have  been  esti- 
mated in  scores  of  feet.  Nearly  all  have  broken  from  the  clitt" 
undei',  or  at  the  edge  of,  the  Horseshoe  Fall.  As  these  catas- 
trophes depend  on  the  projection  of  the  limestone  without  sup- 


THE    KEC'ESSION    Ol"   THE    CATAKACT. 


213 


SZ2Z2^5r::5 


least  tAvcuty  ItM't  tliick,  its  ^^^^^^^'. '^'  >/•  '  v  '  \ 
0  is  so  ii;ivat  as  to  move  most,  ^-^^^^^^'l-  .|;j^:^ '';(; '-  -^■''',[ 
ei'ha])s  oven  the  largest,  ol"  the    ps§ir??^5^^%^__  -;-"'•: ^^ _ /  '  -^: ' 


Fid.  10.  —  Profile  iiiul  Section  ;il  Miil- 
(Ue  of  Horsoslioe  Fall,  snowiii;,'' AiTiinge- 
llU'Ut  of   Uocks  iilld    I'roliilble   Depth  of 
I'ool  iimlei-  l-'nll. 

N.[..,  Xia4.'iii-ii  liiiifKt(uic;  CI,.,  Clinton  linif- 
Htoue;  q.S..  iniiivt/.iiscsaiKlstouu.    Scale, 
aoo  t'cct  =  1  iiicli. 


port,  Ave  are  wavvaiitecl  in  supposing  that  it  is  g'rtidiially  <le])riv(Ml 
of  support  by  the  removal  of  th(^  softer  rocks  heiieatli;  and,  al- 
thoiiji'h  it  is  impossil)le  to  see  what  takes  i»Uiee  amid  the  fearful 
rage  of  Avaters,  we  nav  properly  infer  that  that  very  violtMK-e 
makes  the  cataraet  an  engine  of 
destrueiion  by  which  the  shales 
are  battered  and  worn  away. 
Uiahn-  the  middle  of  the  Horse- 
shoe, where  the  pouring  sheet  is 
at  least  tAventy  feet  thick,  its  f^^ 
force  '  .      — 

or  perl 

fallen  blocks  of  limestone,  and  by 
rolling  them  about  make  them 
serve  as  Aveapons  of  attack. 

In  lS-27  ('apt.  Basil  Ihdl,  of 
the  British  Navy,  nunU'  a  care- 
ful (h'aAving  of  the  Horseshoe 
Fall  by  the  aid  of  a  camera  hicifht. 

The  use  of  that  instrument  gives  to  his  (h-awing  a  cpiaUty  (»f 
accuracy  Avliich  constitutes  it  a  valuable  record.     Sixty-eight 
years  aftei'Avard,  in  IS!)."),  a  photograph  Avas  made  from  the  same 
spot,  and  our  illustrations  (Figs.  11  and  V2)  l)ring  the  two  pic- 
tures together  for  comi»arison.     Q'he  bushes  of  his  foreground 
have  groAvn  into  tall  trees  Avhich  restrict  the  view,  itiiV  the  re- 
gion of  greatest  change  is  not  concealed.     A  vertical  line  has 
been  drawn  through  the  same  point  (Third  Sister  Island)  in  each 
picture  to  aid  the  eye  in  making  the  comparison.     The  ct)nspie- 
uous  changes  are  the  broadening  of  the  gorge  l)y  the  falling- 
aAvay  of  its  nearei-  wall,  and  the  enlargement  of  the  Horseshoe 
curve  both  l)y  retreat  to  the  ri.uht  and  by  retreat  in  the  direc-tion 
away  from  the  spectator.     In  \M'2  Professor  James  Hall,  State 
geologist  of  XeAV  York,  nunh'  a  careful  instrumental  survey  of 
the  cataract  for  the  purpose  of  ivcording  its  outline,  so  that  sub- 
sequent recession  might  be  accurately  measured  by  ineans  of 
future  surA-eys.     His  Avork  has  been  repeated  at  various  times 
since,  the  last  survey  Ixnng  by  Mr.  A.  S.  Kibbe,  assistant  State 
engineer,  in  ISDO.     The  outlines,  as  determined  by  these  surveys, 
are  reproduced  in  the  chart  on  pagv  2W  (Fig.  i:'.),  which  shows 
that  the  greatest  change  has  occurred  in  the  mid<lle  of  the  Horse- 
shoe curve,  Avhere  the  thickness  of  the   descending  stream  is 


2U 


M.\(i.\];A    FALLS    AND    'IIIF.Ii;    IIISTOHV. 


.  V.'.  iv!^^^-''M 


iiiiiiill 

ii  #1 

!    .'^f:r^V)^V.;^^^\^Ji|;|/■:^ 


'kkm^-- 


,1    :>ii^  ilM^^"-^*'"     wMH 


I- 


I'lii;  lii.cr.ssioN  di'   im;  (  aiai;.\(  i' 


■ji; 


I  I 


TTT 


2](i 


NlAGAltA  FALLS    AND    I  IIKil!    HISTOKY. 


greatest.  In  tliut  I'egioii  about  two  hundred  and  tAventy  feet  of 
file  limestone  l)ed  liave  been  carried  awuy,  and  tlie  length  of  the 
gorge  has  been  increased  by  that  amount.     From  these  data  it 

has  been  ('omi)uted  that  the  cataract 
is  making  the  gorge  longer  at  the  rate 
of  boiween  four  and  five  feet  a  year, 
and  the  general  fact  determined  by  the 
observation  of  falling  masses  and  thti 
compai'ison  of  pictures  thus  receives 
a  definite  expression  in  the  oi'dinary 
tenns  of  time  and  distance. 

The  agent  which  lias  wrought  such 
important  changes  dui-ing  the  brief 
peiiod  to  which   careful   observation 

Fig.  13. — Outlines  of  the  Crest     |         ,  ,..,,,  •<>      .1         ii      ^ 

of  tiie  Horseshoe  Fall.  hiis  been  hnuted  IS  manitestly  ahle  to 

The  vertical   hiuI    bori/ontal    lines    holloW    Ollt    tllC    entire    gorge    if     Oldv 
are -tX)  feet  apart.  .,  i      ,.  -i    ^i        ^i 

granted  enough  time,  and  the  tlieory 
which  ascribes  the  making  of  the  gorge  to  the  work  of  the  falling 
water  is  thus  strongly  supjiorted. 

MonE  OF  Kecessiox. — Before  i)assing  to  other  facts  l)eariiig 
on  this  point,  it  is  well  to  call  attention  to  certain  peculiarities 
of  the  process  whereby  it  differs  from  the  normal  process  of 
<-ataract  erosion.  Pure  Avater  has  little  itower  to  erode  solid 
rock.  It  can  jack  up  loose  pai'ticles  or  roll  them  along;  but 
firm,  coherent  rock  cannot  be  lirokeii  by  so  soft  a  tool.  Rock 
is,  indeed,  worn  away  by  rivers,  and  the  erosion  accomplished 
in  this  way  is  enormous;  but  the  water  does  it  indirectly  l)y 
carrying  along  rock  fragments  which  nil)  and  pound  the  solid 
I'ock  of  the  river  bottom.  The  rock  fragments  are  of  the  same 
material,  generally  s|»eaking,  as  the  solid  rock,  and  they  wear  it 
away  just  as  diamond  dust  weai's  tJie  solid  gem.  As  already 
}iointed  out,  the  Niagara  is  peculiai'  in  that  its  current  carries 
no  rock  fragments.  The  geographic;  wt>rk  performed  by  the 
cataract  is  practically  dependent  on  tlie  tools  furnished  l)y  the 
blocks  of  fallen  limestone.  It  is  therefore  of  prime  importance 
to  the  work  of  the  cataract  that  it  shall  be  able  to  roll  the  lime- 
stone fragments  al)Out,  and  thus  grind  them  against  the  river 
bed.  A  study  of  the  different  parts  of  the  cataract,  comparing 
one  Avitli  another,  shows  that  the  water  has  this  power  only 
where  its  body  is  great ;  namely,  in  the  middle  part  of  the  Horse- 
shoe curve.     Under  each  edge  of  that  fall  and  under  the  Amer- 


T^ 


■JiiF,  lii'.cEssiox  OF   rill'  (  aiai;aci'. 


21] 


iciiii  Fall  ^rcat  blocks  of  liinestoiic  lie  a<  llicy  havf  fallen,  iiiaiii- 
fcstly  too  lai'gv  to  1)0  iiiovod  by  tlio  moderate  stivams  that  beat 
ajrainst  tliciii.  Some  of  thoso  arc  shown  in  the  <j,<'n(M'al  \i<'\v  (»f 
the  Ilorsi'shoc  I'al!  (V\^.  .S),  jiiid  nioiv  clcavly  in  tlic  view  of  tlio 
Anu'iicaii  Fall  (Fi<;'.  !»).  The  block  at  the  cxtron.o  ri<;ht  of  the 
American  Fal'  s  also  itietiireil  in  l''i<i-.  14.  The  resistance  o])|)ose(l 
l)y    these    blocks    makes  _. -.       - 

the  rate  of  erosion  (»f  the 
American  Fall  comi»ara- 
tively  slow.  In  fact,  it  is 
so  slow  that  attempts  to 
measiii'e  it  have  thus  far 
been  imsiiccessful,  be- 
cause tlu'  chanf''es  which 
have  taken  i)lace  in  its 
outline  l»etween  the  dates 
of  sui'veys  have  been  little 
^•reater  than  the  inaccu- 
racies of  the  surveys. 
Where  the  heaviest  body 
of  water  pours  down,  the 
)>locks  are  not  merely 
moveil,  but  are  made  to 
di^'  a  deep  hollow  in  the 
shale.  The  precise  depth  cannot  be  measnred,  because  the  mo- 
tion of  the  Avatei'  is  thei'e  too  violent  for  sounding';  but  a  little 
farther  down  the  river,  where  the  catai-act  ])erfoi'ined  its  Avork 
only  a  few  centui'ies  a.i^-o,  the  jilumnict  shows  a  de)»th  of  nearly 
two  hundred  feet,  and  it  is  ])robablt'  ihat  the  hollow  dircctl}' 
under  the  Horseshoe  is  not  shallower  than  tliat.  The  p'neral 
fact  ap]ieai"s  to  be  that  in  tlu»  center  of  the  main  stream  the 
water  diii's  deeply,  and  the  brink  of  the  fall  recedes  rapidly. 
After  the  g'or^v  has  been  leiii>'thened  by  this  pi-ocess,  it  is  some- 
what widened  by  the  fallin,^'  in  of  its  sides;  and  this  fallina;  in 
is  in  a  measure  aide<l  by  tiie  thinner  water  streams  neai'  tlu* 
banks,  which  dear  away  the  smaller  limestone  fraji'meiits.  lhon<i;h 
leaving  the  laru'ei'.  Aftei-  the  cataract  has  altosi'ether  jtassed, 
the  clift'  is  fuither  modified  by  frost.  The  wall  of  shale,  beinjj; 
wet  by  spray  or  i-ain,  is  exposed  to  the  cold  air  of  winter,  and 
the  water  it  contains  is  frozen.  The  expansion  of  freezing 
breaks  the  rock,  either  cruml)ling  it   or  causing  flakes  to  fall 


I'm.  ]4.— Tlif  "Kock  of  A<r<'s."  ji   I'ullcii  lilcH-k 

iif  Xiagiira  liiiiicstoiic  iit  tlic  Koutlii'i'ii  Eiigc 

I'f  the  Anici'ii'iiii  I''all. 


1>1S 


N(A(i\i;.\    lAI.I.S    AND    'lIlHIi;    II  IS'l'OliV. 


I  I 


away.  In  tliis  \v;i>-  tlic  sliak>  is  cntcii  Itack,  aii<l  tlio  limostom* 
al)()v<'  is  made  to  fall,  until  ciiou^li  fallen  frii<ini(>nts  have  l)een 
accumulated  to  protect  tlie  reniaindci-  (»f  the  shale  from  fr<^st, 

after  whicli  time  the  jtrocess  of 

chanu'e  hecc^mes  exceetlin^ly  slow. 
Thus  two  different  modes  of 
cataract  recession  are  illustrated 
by  the  two  falls  of  Niii^ara.  They 
resemble  each  othei-  in  the  most 
essentud  ])articular, — that  the 
soft  shaU'  beneath  is  avovu  away, 
and  the  hard  limestone  above 
falls  for  lack  (^f  su]>]>ort, —  but 
they  diti'er  widely  in  other  re- 
spects. In  the  recession  of  the 
Horseshoe  Fall,  the  blocks  of 
limestone  are  i)estles  or  grinding' 
tools  by  which  the  shale  is  beaten 
or  scoured  away.  In  the  reces- 
sion of  the  Amei'ican  Fall,  the 
limestone  blocks  have  no  acti\e 
share,  but  are  rather  obstructive. 
The  falling-  water,  striking  them, 
is  si)lashed  against  the  clitit',  and 
this  splashing  is  the  only  force 
continiuilly  api)lie<l  to  the  shale. 
In  the  spring,  ice  cakes  are  drifti^l 
from  Lake  Erie  into  the  entrance 
of  the  river,  and  float  to  the  falls. 
Borne  with  the  water,  they,  too, 
nmst  be  dashed  against  the  <'litt' 
of  shale,  and,  though  softer  than 
the  shale,  they  probably  hel[)  to 
dislodge  it.  The  recession  in  one 
case  is  far  more  rapid  than  in  the 
other,  the  dii¥erence  being  explained  primarily  l)y  the  difference 
in  the  volume  of  the  water. 

Old  River  Banks  and  Gravels. — As  just  explained,  the  re- 
treating cataract  lengthens  the  gorge  most  rapidly  in  the  niiddh^ 
of  the  stream,  where  the  water  is  deepest.  As  the  gorge  is  ex- 
tended, the  current  turns  toward  its  head  from  both  margins, 


Fi(i.  l.j. — The  Niagara  Gorge,  sliowiiig 
Physical  Features. 

Old  river  banks  are  sUown  by  dotted  lines; 
sUell  localities,  by  crnsnes. 


Tin;  liKCKssioN  oi-  Tin;  <'ai.\I!.\(  r. 


•Jill 


Hiul  ]»orti()iis  of  the  rivci'  bed  on  citlicr  side  ai'c  lliiis  ji'i-jiduiilly 
iilmiidoiird  ]»y  flic  watfr.  After  tlit'sc  sti'i[ts  of  river  l>e(l  lia\e 
l)(>c<)iiie  (li-y  liiiid,  they  retjiiii  <'ertiiiii  fe.itui'es  l»y  wliieli  they  can 
he  re('()j>'ui/-ed.  Usually  the  whole  of  the  drift  is  washed  away  as 
far  as  the  water  exUMnhMl,  so  tliat  the  loek  is  l>ai'e,  oi-  neai'ly  bare; 
and  tlie  edjjo  of  the  midisturlx'd  drift  at  tlie  iiiaryiii  ttf  this  strip 
of  bared  I'ock  lias  a  siee]i  slope,  wliicli  so  closely  resembles  the 
niodciTi  banks  of  the  river  abo\c  the  cataract  that  the  iniau'ina- 
tiou  readily  restores  the  former  outline  of  the  water  (see  l'''ii>'.  1(i). 


Fui.  l(i.  —  OKI  liivfi-  liaiik  ami  liivcr  UimI,  Ciif  Mile  A'urili  ut  Aiiiericuii  Fall. 


Soinetiuies  the  river,  after  riinnin.u'  for  a  while  at  <Mie  Icn'cI,  has 
been  drawn  down  to  a  lower  level,  and  the  change  has  caused  a 
seeoud  bank  to  be  produced,  the  space  between  the  first  and 
second  banks  staudin<»'  as  a  bench  of  land,  or  tei'race.  At  some 
points  there  ai-e  tAvo  or  three  such  terraces.  Alonjz,'  the  o-i-eater 
part  of  the  iJ,or<>'e  these  old  banks  can  be  found  on  both  sides, 
and  there  are  few  spots  where  they  do  not  survive  on  one  side 
or  the  other.  The  farthest  point  to  which  they  can  be  traced 
downstream  is  about  half  a  niiU'  from  the  end  of  the  i;oi'ii'e,  and 


2'J() 


MAd.VUA    FALLS    AM>    IHF.llt    IMSIOKV. 


tlu'V  thus  serve  to  show  thut  all  the  reumiiMh'r  of  tlie  ^or^e  lias 
lieeii  wi'ou^rlit  (lurii)^  the  life  of  the  river;. for  it  is  evi«hMit  that 
the  i'iv«'r  eould  not  run  on  tlie  upliind  Avhile  the  jjor^e  was  in 
existence. 

In  a  few  eases,  wheie  llie  lop  of  the  limestone  lies  rather  low, 
the  old  river  ImmIs  are  not  excavated  (h>vvn  to  tlie  rock,  hut  tlieii- 
terraces  are  partly  carved  in  drift.  Jn  yet  other  places  tlie  old 
rivci-  not  only  carried  away  material,  but  made  additions,  leav- 
ing' a  <le]»osit  of  j^ravel  jiiid  sand  that  had  heeii  rollecl  aloii^'  by 
the  current.  In  this  ji'rjivelly  dejMtsit,  shells  ha\'e  been  found  at 
a.  uumbei-  of  [ilaces,  jind  they  ai'e  all  of  such  kinds  as  live  in  the 
(piieter  parts  of  the  river  at  the  jtreseut  time. 

On  the  chart  on  ^>aj»'e  'JIS  (Fiji,'.  1.'))  the  most  important  of  the 
ohl  river  ]>anks  are  shown,  and  also  a.  number  of  spots  at  which 
shells  have  been  found  in  tlii'  rivei'  gravels, 

FosTEK  Flats. — About  two  miles  and  a  half  scmtli  of  the 
('scarpment  the  g'or^'e  assumes  a  peculiar  i>hase  not  elsewhere 
seen.  It  is  unusually  wide  at  the  top;  but  the  river  is  quite 
narrow,  and  runs  close  under  the  cliff  on  the  east«M'u  or  Amerieau 
side.  On  the  Canadian  side  an  irreji'ular  lowland  lies  between 
the  cliff  and  the  river,  but  this  is  encroached  on  by  a  quadran- 
gular projection  of  the  oliii".     The  lowland  is  Foster  Flats;  and 


•<,_^^^ 


Flu.  17.  —  Binrs-cye  View  of  Foster  Fliits,  lonkiii};  Soiitliwest  (Forests  omitted). 


IIIK    HECKSSION    of    IHK   CATAUAt  r. 


221 


tlic  rlif'f  jnnjcctioii,  VVint»'rf»:i'»'«'ii  Flnt.  Tlicsc  iiml  otlitT  Ifiilui't's 
of  til*'  loi'jility  iirc  |iovtniyi'<l  in  tlic  Itii-d's-cyc  \'n'\v  (Kiu'.  17),  iiixl 
also  ill  tlir  iuiii»  (Kij;'.  IS).  TIk'  iiiii)*  roi»r«'s*'iits  tin'  slojx^s  of  tin' 
liiii<l  by  inouiis  of  contour  lines,  oi-  lines  of  ('(|iial  lieii^lit,  diawn 
iit  vt'Vticiil  intervals  of  twenty  feet. 

Winteryreen  Fliit  is  a  piatfonn  of  limestone  a  little  lieluw  tlie 
i;euernl  level  of  the  iilaiii,  and  sepai-ated  from  the  plain  liy  a 
steep  liliiff.  This  hliiff  is  one  of  the  old  rivei'  hanks,  vei-y  simi- 
hif  to  the  one  pietui'ed  in  l''i^'.  1(>,  and  the  platform  is  pai't  of  the 
fiver's  hed.  Kollo\vin<;'  the  direction  of  flow  —  parallel  to  the 
hank  —  to  tile  point  J  (Fiji'.  IS),  the  observer  Hnds  himself  on 
the  brink  of  a  cliff  over  which 
the  water  evi<lently  descended 
ill  ji cataract ;  and  befor*'  him, 
exteiidilij;:from  the  foot  of  the 
cliff  to  tin'  point  />,  is  a  de- 
scending' valley  with  the  form 
of  a  riverbed.  From  Wiiiter- 
irreen  Flat  onlv  its  n'eiieral 
shape  can  be  made  out,  as  it 
is  clothed  with  forest;  but 
when  one  u'ets  down  to  it,  he 
finds  it  a  northward-sloping 
plain,  boumh'd  by  steep  sides, 
and  strewn  here  an<l  there  wi  tli 
irreat  fallen  blocks  of  lime- 
stone  whicdi  the  river  current  j,^^^  m.-Map  ..r  h\,st..,  fimIs. 

could  not  remove.     The  left 

bank  of  this  channel  has  the  ordinary  jn'otile  of  the  Avail  of  the 
g.(,i.g.<i^_.i  cliff  ,)f  tlit>  Niafi:ara  limestone  at  toj)  and  a  talus  sloj^e 
below,  covered  by  blocks  of  the  same  ro<'k.  The  ri^'ht  wall  is 
lower,  risiiiii:  at  niost  but  fifty  feet  above  the  channel,  and  .uradn- 
ally  disai»pearin^'  northward.  It  is  merely  the  side  of  a  low  rid.ue 
wliich  separates  the  al)andoiied  channel  from  the  I'iver  bed  at 
the  east.  Its  surface  is  exceedino'ly  ru,i»;ii'ed.  bein.u'  <'overed  by 
hn^e  blocks  of  limestone,  so  that  tlu>  rid<re  seeming'ly  <'onsists  of 
a  heap  of  them;  but  there  is  doubtless  a  nuchms  of  uiidistnrb.>d 
shale,  with  a  remnant  of  the  (Minton  ledj^e.  Eastward  from 
VVinterj>;reen  Flat  there  is  a  continuous  descent  from  the  lime- 
stone cHff  to  the  river;  but  this  is  less  steej.  than  the  ordinary 
talus  slope  of  the  gorge,  and  it  is  cumbered,  like  the  ridge,  by 


.)<)■» 


\   <.,iv(.  torvnco  at  al>«>n1  tho 

l::::i:i::::r:z:;:>;i:---i:M!i::.i::^-^. '-- 

.    ,„  ,|„,  ,,s,-,,vi.""'"'' '".' '     ,'  '  vi„.'  tlu'  l'"sUi.m  '-,'•.'•  '"^i 

Hw  onlv  a.  lln.t  ol"-'' ''"',  *"  '    . ,       '■A.n..n..m,  Fall  vl .■.■„.. 
'^    , „„  ,1,,.  ,„.>iv  niin.lly-     ""'"        ,  .     ,  ,,„ss,HlU,a"'l  1""* 

into  tl,o  P"!--  "V"'    f     ,ist,t,.v,l«-am..  I'-ss  "-■"V'.  '"  ,r. 
V„|l  thvoujlll  til..  l"ss  "1  Ill's  «.ll'  ^.^.,,,,,,1  ,,^  ,l,.t,.U. 

';, .  of  n„.  V,,....,  i-v."«  ;:;   V  „iih.«  "V,.,-  .11.;  -s,  ™ 

Vov  a  tin,..  tl,..f..  was  a  .-a,!  >  „„„,,„.,  r„|ls  ov..,    1"^ 

,  a,..  «..'■«..  .i..^t  -  "•;■ ;:;; '  ,-  ,,a.i  ......"^i'  *"  ,^»''";;;: x,,: 

4.  ,.-.,11      The  lsau(l^vJl^  n»H   .  u^  i)0(\ostal  <m  *^H'^'* 

:;;:,;;;"n./Att,.v.iu.,.a.u-a<..sj;  1-^^,^^^^^ 

;:;,:,•;;  r.,-^;:".a,..,..  r'""\p':„:; '  w: :,.:;  time  t.>e  .tvoam 

fallv  vovaul  f<'V  l>'s  1'"'Hs  't  1      ^'    -    .^^,.j    i,„5,voss,ve  to  st.    .1 

tovveut's  poAvev  to  tvaiisixnt.    1   ^  Horseshoe  1  aU  ot 

^  Ut  l;oUo^v  out  a  ^^^^V^^J^i^  .node  of  action,  to  the 
?    ^,^-  tmt  was  rather  coiiipauiDR  yiuoroiis.     J-li*' 

to-aa> ,  hut  ^  a.  ,^^        .ouiewhat  i»«^^  ^  f  ,orrespouds 

American  Fall,  tluavi   I  ^^^^  prohabl>   cone  i 

slope  eastward  trom  AMntei.ie 


THE   IIECESSION    OF   Till:   CATAltACI'. 


U'ja 


closely  with  wliiit  one  \V(»iiM  liud  tiiiilri-  tlic  Aiiiri-icaiii  Full  it'  ihc 
river  were  stopped  and  tlie  pool  dniiiietl. 

Thus  Koste)-  iiiid  \Viiiter;;reeii  (hits  i"e]teat  the  story  told  liy 
the  old  river  hunks  uud  the  shell-hem'iny'  yrnvels.  There  was  a, 
time  when  there  was  no  ^'orp',  hut  when  the  river  ran  o\er  the 
top  of  the  )>lain  nearly  to  its  edp-;  and  since  tlmt  time  the^orj^t^ 
luis  been  j;ra<lnall\'  dn^'  ont  Ity  the  power  ol*  the  plunjiin;^-  watei-. 

Bi:(ilNNlN(i  or  JiKCKSSioN. —  When  the  ueoyrapher  notes  that 
some  natural  process  is  producing'  chan<i('s  in  the  Teatures  of  the 
land,  he  naturally  l(M>ks  hackwurd,  if  he  can,  to  see  what  were 
the  earlier  features  which  ]»recede(l  the  changes  in  i»roy:ress,  and 
lo(»ks  forwai-d  to  see  what  will  he  the  e\-entual  condition  if 
chanj^es  of  the  same  sort  are  continued.  'IMie  tracing  of  the  his- 
tory of  chaiij;e  in  either  direction  is  ai)t  to  Ite  dilhcult,  Itecause 
it  is  not  easy  to  tell  what  allowances  to  make  for  chanj;'es  of  cii*- 
cumstaiice  or  condition.  In  tracinu'  the  early  history  of  Xia/^^ara 
such  dilliculties  as  these  ai'is« ,  hut  there  is  one  ditlicidty  A\hich 
is  not  alto^'ether  unfortunate,  hecause  it  leads  to  the  discovery 
that  the  Niaj^'ara  histoi-y  is  delinitely  r<'lated  to  one  of  the  most 
iiiti'restin^'  events  of  the  ji'eoji'i'a]thic  development  of  the  conti- 
nent. 

llaN'injz,'  learneil  fi'om  the  cataract  that  it  is  en,u'a<i('(l  in  the 
work  of  ^■or.u'e  makinj;',  and  having  learned  from  the  old  ri\'ei' 
beds  along  the  margins  of  the  gorge  and  from  the  old  cataract 
clitf  at  Fostei-  Flats  that  this  Avork  of  g'  ge  making  has  l>een 
cai'i'ied  on  through  thcAvhole  length  of  the  gorge,  Ave  are  carried 
hack  in  imagination  to  an  e))och  when  the  river  ti'aveled  on  the 
upp'r  [>lain  all  the  Avay  fi"om  Lake  Erie  to  the  escai']>ment,  and 
there  descemh'd.  The  general  history  is  clearly  traced  back  to 
that  jioint,  l»ut  there  it  seems  to  sto]*  abi'uptly.  AVe  may  com- 
l)art'  the  river  to  a'l  artisan  sawing  the  jilatcau  in  two.  The 
Avork  goes  on  mev  dy  and  the  saw  cut  is  still  short.  As  geolo- 
gists reckon  time,  ii  is  not  long  since  the  task  was  begun.  Hut 
Nature's  artisans  cannot  stand  idle;  Avhile  they  live,  they  must 
AVork.  So,  before  this  task  Avas  begun,  either  IIm-  stream  had 
some  other  task  or  else  thei-e  was  no  Niagara  KiNci'.  It  seems 
impossible  to  suggest  any  other  task,  and  all  geog)'ai»hers  are. 
agree(l  that  there  Avas  n<ine.  The  river's  first  Avork  Avas  the  dig- 
ghig  of  the  gorge,  and  the  date  of  its  beginning  was  the  (hite  of 
the  river's  beginning. 

The  nature  of  this  beginning,  the  sei'ies  of  events  Avhich  led 


2l»4 


MAliAKA    lALI-S    A\l>    TllHli:    HISIOIIV, 


r\ 


\'l 


t  ! 
11 


lip  to  it,  or,  ill  otluT  Avords,  tlir  cause  of  tlic  I'iver,  was  loii^' 
s(>ii,ulit  in  vain;  and  an  intcrcstin*!,'  ciiaptcv  ini»;'lit  lie  written  on 
the  fruitless  search.  Tlie  needed  lig'iit  was  an  understandiii,ii'  of 
tlie  origin  of  the  drift ;  and  it  was  not  till  a  young  Swiss  geolo- 
gist, Louis  Agassiz,  l)rought  from  the  Al]>s  the  idea  of  a  drift- 
l)earing  ice  field  that  the  (liscovery  of  Niagara's  ])edigree  l)e<'anie 
possible. 

DFA'FJ,()l':MFAr    OF     I'lli:    I.AritFA'lIAN    LAKES. 

The  Ice  Sheet. — The  history  of  the  great  Canadian  glaciei-  is 
a  large  subject,  to  Avhich  some  future  monograi»li  of  this  sei-ies 
will  doubtless  be  devoted.  Any  account  of  it  which  can  be 
given  here  must  needs  be  inude(|uate,  yet  a  full  un<lei-standing 
of  Niagara  cannot  be  reache(l  without  some  kuowledge  of  the 
glacier.  lu  the  iaiesT  of  the  geologic  ])eriods  the  climate  of 
North  America  uuderweiit  a  series  of  remarka])le  changes,  be- 
coming altenuitely  colder  and  warmer.  While  the  general  tem- 
perature WHS  loAv,  there  was  a  large  ar(^a  in  Canada  o\'ei'  which 
the  fall  of  sncnv  in  winter  was  so  dee]»  that  the  heat  of  summer 
did  not  fully  melt  it;  so  that  each  year  a  certain  auiount  was  left 
over,  and  iu  the  course  of  centuries  the  accumulation  a<'(|uired 
a  depth  of  thousands  of  feet.  Hy  i»ressure,  and  by  melting  and 
freezing,  the  sn(nv  was  [)acked,  and  AvehU^l  into  ice.  When  the 
climate  again  l»ecame  wai-mei',  this  ice  was  gradually  melted 
away;  but  while  present  it  performed  an  important  geograjthic 
woi-k.  Ice  iu  large  masses  is  plastic;  and  when  the  ice  sheet 
had  become  thick,  it  did  not  li<'  inert  and  motionless,  liut  si)read 
itself  outward  like  a  mass  of  pitch,  its  edges  slowly  ]»ushing 
away  from  the  central  tract  in  all  <lirections.  This  motion  car- 
I'ied  the  ice  l)or(h'r  into  regions  of  wai'uier  climate,  Avhei'e  it  was 
melted;  and  for  a  long  ])erio(l  there  was  a  slow  but  ciMitinuous 
movement  from  the  central  region  of  accunuikition  to  the  mar- 
ginal I'egion  of  waste  by  melting.  The  ]>rincipal  region  of  ac- 
cunudation  was  north  and  noi'theast  of  the  (}reat  Lakes,  and 
the  flowing  ice  passed  ovei'  the  lake  i'egion,  invading  all  our 
Noi'thern  States.  Where  the  ice  pressed  on  thegi'oun<l,  it  enve!- 
(»]ied  bowhh'rs,  ]»ebbh^s,  and  whati'Ver  lay  loose  on  the  surface; 
and  as  it  movt^l  forward,  tliese  Avei'e  cari'ied  with  it,  l»eing 
([ragged  over  the  solid  rock,  and  scraping  it.  Thus  the  country 
was  not  merely  swej^t,  l»ut  sci'atched  and  ]>loAved,  Avith  the  result 
that  its  surface  was  Avorn  lUnvn.     The  amouid  of  weai'  was  not 


DKVELOI'MENT    OF    IHK    i,Al  ItF.N  TIAN    LAKES. 


'J-J.') 


everywhere  the  same,  hut  varitMl  tVoni  ]»hi('e  to  i»la<'e,  and  iiumy 
Itasins  were  hollowed  out.  WIhmi  tlif  jivneral  eliiiiatc  hccaint' 
jjjrachudly  wanuei-,  tlir  waste  of  ice  nt'ai-  its  iiiar«iin  exceeded  the 
supply,  and  the  extent  ot  the  slicct  was  diminished.  WIhmi  th<> 
ice  was  f^'one,  the  stones  and  cartli  it  had  jncked  u]>  and  ui-ound 
up  renuuned  on  the  land,  hut  in  new  positions.  The_\-  wcit 
si»read  and  heaped  irre«>'ularly  over  the  surl'atM',  constitutini;  the 
manth'  of  diift  to  which  refcivncc  has  already  l»ccn  made. 
Thus  by  the  double  process  of  hoUowin^r  and  heaitin<i',  the  face 
of  the  land  was  i-eniodcled ;  so  that  when  the  rain  once  more  fell 
on  it,  and  was  i^athered  in  streams,  the  old  watei-  ways  were  lost, 
and  new  ones  had  to  he  found. 

This  remodel i Hi;'  ,ua\'e  to  the  Laui'entian  system  of  water 
ways  its  abnormal  character,  suppl>iii.u'  it  with  abundant  lakes 
and  waterfalls.  Not  only  were  the  (Jreat  Lakes  ci'eated,  but  a 
multitude  of  minor  lakes,  lakelets,  [londs,  and  mai-shes.  If  the 
reaiU'i"  will  study  some  ucmmI  map  of  the  Tnifed  States  or  of 
North  Amei'ica,  he  will  see  thai  this  lake  district  includes  New 
Enji^land  also,  and  by  tracing  its  extent  in  otliei'  dii'ections  he 
can  g'et  a  fail"  idea  of  the  ma.u'uitude  of  the  ice  sheet. 

The  lakes  have  had  a  marked  inllueiice  on  the  histor>-  and 
industries  of  mankind.  Still  watei-  makes  an  easy  roadway,  and 
the  (diuin  of  (ireat  Lakes  not  oid>-  ^'uided  ex]>loration  and  early 
settlement,  but  has  determined  the  chief  routes  of  commei'ce 
ever  since.  The  most  easti'rly  of  the  ice-made  basins,  instead  of 
holdinji'  lakes,  recei\-e  arms  of  tin-  sea,  ^'iviufi,'  to  New  York  and 
New  Enji'laud  some  of  the  best  hai'boi-s  in  the  world.  Each  cat- 
aract is  a  water  power,  and  tiie  lakes  and  ponds  upstream  are 
natural  stora^'e  resei'voii-s,  holdiiiii"  back  ^h)ods,  and  doling  the 
water  out  in  time  of  di-ouu'ht.  So  Chicaiio  an<l  New  ^'ork  City 
are  the  centers  of  trade,  and  New  En.uiand  is  a  land  of  hum- 
ming' spindles  and  lathes,  liecaus<'  of  an  iti\asion  loiiy'  aii'o  i>y 
Canadian,  ice. 

The  (Hstrict  of  the  Niaji'ara  lay  far  within  the  extreme  limit 
of  the  ice,  and  tli*'  di'ift  there  lyin.u'  on  the  rocks  is  part  of  tli«' 
jj:reat  ice-spread  mantle.  Wherevei-  that  di'ift  is  freshly  remov«Ml, 
whetluM- Ity  the  natural  excavation  of  streams  or  the  artificial  ex- 
cavation of  (luarrymen  and  builders,  the  nick  lieneath  is  found 
to  be  polished,  and  covered  by  jtarallel  sci-atches,  the  result  of 
rubbing  bv  tiie  ice  and  its  yrittv  loa(L  These  sci'atches  show 
that  in  this  [)articular  district  the  ice  moveil  in  a  direction  about 


226 


NIAGAIJA    FAJ.LS  AM)    THEIH    HISTOKY. 


^1 


'  i 


I 


o()°  Avest  of  south.  They  cjiu  1»»'  seen  on  the  western  brink  of 
the  g'org'e  four  hundred  yai'ds  l)e]ow  t]ie  raih'oad  suspension 
In-id^c,  in  the  beds  of  several  creeks  near  tiie  Whirlpool,  and  at 
various  (|uarries  above  the  escarpment.  The  ])est  opportunity 
to  study  them  is  at  a  ,yroup  of  (piarries  near  the  brink  of  the 
escai'i>ment,  about  two  miles  west  of  the  river. 

lcE-])AMiiED  Lakes.  —  During-  the  period  of  final  melting  of 
the  ice  sheet,  when  its  southern  margin  was  gradually  retreating 
across  the  region  of  the  Great  Lakes,  a  nund)er  of  temporary 
lakes  of  i>eculiar  character  weiv  formed.     In  the  accompanying 

sketch  map  of  the  Great  Lake 
region  (Fig.  19)  the  broken 
line  marks  the  position  of  the 
southern  rim  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence basin.  It  is  the  water- 
shed between  the  district 
draining  to  the  St.  Lawi'ence 
and  the  contiguous  districts 
draining  to  the  Mississippi, 
Ohio,  Sus(|U(dianna,  and  Hud- 
son, When  the  ice  sheet  was 
greatest,  its  southern  margin 
lay  south  of  this  watei-shed. 
The  rain  Avhich  fell  on  the 
ice,  uniting  with  the  water  made  by  melting  ice,  ran  from  the 
ice  field  on  to  the  land,  and  fiowed  awa,v'  with  the  rivers  of  the 
land.  Afterward,  when  the  extent  of  the  ice  lu-d  been  some- 
what reduce(|,  its  margin  lay  partly  beyond  and  i)artly  within 
the  basin  of  the  lakes;  but  the  wtiter  from  it  c(mld  not  fiow 
down  the  St.  Lawrence,  l)ecause  that  valley  was  still  occu- 
pied by  the  ice.  It  therefoi'e  gathered  between  the  ice  front 
and  the  watershed  in  a  series  of  lakes,  each  of  which  found 
outlet  southward  across  some  low  point  in  the  watershed.  To 
see  this  clearly  may  reipiire  some  effort  of  the  imagination. 
The  reader  should  bear  in  mind  that  the  watershed  is  not  n  sim- 
ple ridge,  but  a  rolling  upland  of  varying  height,  with  here  and 
there  a  low  pass.  The  St.  Lawrence  l)asin  is  not  simple  and 
r(^gular  in  form,  but  is  made  up  of  many  smallei'  ])asins  separated 
by  minor  u)»lands  or  watersheds.  Some  of  these  watersheds 
ai-e  shown  on  the  map.  When  the  iee  occu])ied  part  of  nunor 
basins,  it  acted  as  a  dam,  holding  the  water  back,  and  making 


Fi(i.  11).  — Thf  firciit  ],iik("s  jiiid  tlifir 
Dniinnfic  l)iNtri<-fs. 

The  watei'slii'ds  Ixmndiiis  tlip  draiua^c  disti-icts 
iiri'  I'l'iu't'sc'iitrd  by  dotlcd  nnd  ln'cdicii  lines. 


DEVELOrjIENT   OF   THE   LAi:i{EN'J'IAN    EAKES. 


227 


it  iill  the  basin  until  it  could  flow  in  some  other  direetion.  As 
the  position  of  the  ice  front  changecl,  these  lakes  were  changed, 
being  made  to  unite  or  separate,  and  often  to  abandon  one  chan- 
nel or  outlet  when  another  was  opened  at  a  lower  level.  Some- 
times there  were  chains  of  lakes  along  the  ice  margin,  one  lake 
draining  to  another  across  a  minor  watershed,  and  the  lowest 
<liscliarging'  across  the  main  watershed. 

Wherever  water  ran  from  a  lake,  it  moditied  the  surface. 
TJie  loose  drift  was  i>asily  moved  l)y  the  current,  and  each  stream 
quickly  hollowed  out  for  itself  a  channel, — a  trough-like  passage 
with  flattish  bottom  and  steep  sides.  When  tiic  lakes  aft<M"war<I 
disappeared,  the  channels  lost  their  streams,  but  tlieir  forms  iv- 
mained.  They  are  still  to  be  seen  in  a  lunxlreil  passes  among 
the  hills  of  the  Northern  States.  The  larger  and  longer-lived  of 
the  lakes  carved  by  their  waves  a  still  more  consjticuous  record. 
In  ways  explained  by  Professor  Shaler  in  the  fifth  monogi-aph 
of  this  series,  the  waves  set  in  motion  by  storms  cut  out  strands 
and  clifts  from  the  drift  and  l)uilt  up  harrici'  beaches,  so  that 
after  the  lake  watei's  had  departed  there  were  t(M'races  and  ridges 
on  the  hillsides  to  show  where  th(^  shores  ha<l  been.  Many  of 
the  old  channels  have  been  found,  some  of  the  old  shore  lines 
have  been  traced  out  and  mai'ked  on  maps,  and  by  such  investi- 
gation the  history  of  geographic  changes  in  the  (Jreat  Lake 
region  is  gradually  being  learned. 

At  one  stage  of  that  history  there  was  a  long  lake  occupying 
the  western  part  of  the  Ontario  basin,  much  of  the  Erie,  part  of 
the  Huron,  and  probal)ly  part  of  the  .Michigan.  Its  outHow 
crossed  the  main  watershed  at  diicago  {(',  Fig.  19),  and  its  east- 
ern extremity  was  near  Batavia  (/>)  in  western  New  York.  The 
ice  mass  tilled  the  greater  part  of  the  Ontario  basin,  and  kept 
the  water  from  (.'scaping  eastward.  AVheii  it  melted  from  that 
region,  the  water  shifted  its  outlet  fi-om  ('hicago  to  a  low  pass 
at  Rome  (7/),  where  it  discharged  to  the  ^Mohawk  valley.  This 
change  loAvered  the  lake  surface  several  hundred  feet,  and,  by 
uncovering  watei'sheds  that  had  before  be(Mi  submerge(i,  sepa- 
i-ated  the  Huron,  Ph'ie,  and  Ontario  l)asins,  and  three  lakes  took 
the  place  of  the  single  long  lake.  In  the  Huron  basin  Avas  a  lake 
half  walled  by  ice;  in  the  Erie  basin,  Lake  Erie;  and  in  the 
Ontario  basin.  Lake  Iro(|Uois,  an  ice-dammed  lake  with  its  outlet 
at  Home. 

Th(^  draining  away  of  so  large  a  liody  of  watei-  occupied  some 


i 


ij 


il: 


228 


NIAGAltA    FALLS    AN'1>    TMEIIi    UrSTOKV 


time,  SO  tliat  tli<'  hike  1('V<>1  wms  <j;i'ii»iujilly  lowered.  WIhmi  it 
reached  tlie  pass  between  the  Erie  and  Ontario  l)asins  at  Buffalo, 
and  Lal«'s  Erie  and  ]ro<iuois,\vere  thereby  parted,  the  Erie  level 
could  fall  no  lower,  hut  the  Irocjuois  continued  downward.  As 
soon  as  there  was  a  ditiference  of  level,  a  stream  heu-an  to  How 
from  Lake  Erie,  and  that  stream  Avas  the  infant  Nia*;"ara,  newly 
liorn.  it  was  ;i  short  stream,  because  the  ed,i»'e  of  the  lro(iuois 
Avatcr  was  close  to  Buffalo;  Init  it  g'rew  lon^'er  day  by  day,  as 
fast  as  the  Iro(piois  ed,i>'e  receded,  it  had  no  channel  until  it 
uiade  one,  l»ut  its  ^-i-owiuii'  end,  in  foliowinj;'  the  I'ctreating'  lake, 
selected  at  each  instant  the  dii'ection  of  steepest  s]o[)e;  and  as 
the  slopes  had  l)een  fori>!(-d  by  the  jj:lacier,  it  may  be  said  that 
the  ji'lacier  ])red(4ermined  the  course  of  the  rivei'. 

Durinji'  some  centuries  oi'  millenniums  of  its  enrly  life  the 
rivei'  \v;is  shorter  than  now,  because  the  li'o(|nois  Lake  Hooded 
nioi-e  land  than  the  ( )ntai'io,  and  kept  the  river  nearer  the  escarji- 
nient;  but  in  course  of  time  the  ice  dam  disappeai'ed,  the  lake 
outlet  was  I'cmoved  from  ivonie  to  the  ^riiousaiul  Islands,  part 
of  the  lake  bottom  was  laid  bai'«'  by  th.e  retiriiiii;  water,  and  the 
i-i\er  sti'etched  itself  oxer  the  broadened  plain.  It  ,i>'rew,  in  fact, 
to  be  a  few  nnles  lonii,-<'r  than  now,  and  there  wei-e  other  chang'es 
in  len<;tli :  but  the  entire  story  is  too  lon<;-aud  inti'icate  for  these 
pa<>('s. 

TuK  ('Axrixd  or  Baslns.  —  'rh«' «>'eog'rapherK  who  haveuiai»ped 
the  «>lacial  lakes  by  traciuii'  theii-  shore  lines  have  also  measui'ed 
the  hei<>,hts  of  these  lines  at  many  points.  From  these  measui'e- 
ments  they  have  found  that  th<'  lines  ai-e  uot  level.  The  surface 
of  each  ice-danuned  lake  was,  of  ccuu'se,  level,  and  its  waves, 
beatiiiii'  on  the  shoi'es,  carNed  beaches  aud  strands  all  at  the 
same  le\('l.  But  these  abandoned  strands,  preserved  as  terraces 
on  the  basin  slopes,  are  not  level  uow ;  and  it  is  thei'<'fore  inferred 
tluit  the  eai'tli  itself,  the  I'ocky  foundation  on  which  the  terraces 
r<'st,  has  (diany-ed  its  form.  TIh'  id<'a  of  earth  movements,  the 
slow  rising'  of  some  disti'icts  and  the  sinking'  of  others,  is  not 
■■  'w:  ]»ut,  until  these  old  shore  lines  were  studied,  it  was  not 

)wn  that  such  changes  had  recently  affected  the  l^ake  re«i'ion. 

The  de})arture  of  the  old  shore  liiu's  from  hori/ontality  is  of 
a  systematic  <diaract(>r.  They  all  rise  toward  the  north  and  east, 
an<l  fall  toward  the  south  and  west.  The  amount  of  this  tiltiui;' 
or  inclination  is  not  the  same  e\-erywhere,  nor  is  it  e\-erywhei'e 
in  precisely  the  same  direction;   Itut  the  genei'al  fa<'t   jilainly 


m 

kno 


I 


DKVKLUl'MENJ    OF    JHK    LAIUENTIAX    LAKES. 


.).)(> 


appears,  that  tli<'  uorthcastcni  portion  of  tlic  ( Jrcat  Lake  district 
lias  ])vvu  raised  or  the  soutliwi'sterii  portion  has  Imvh  lowered,  or 
l)oth,  several  hundred  feet  since  tiie  epoch  of  these  ice-daninicd 
lakes,   i.e.,  since    tlie   time  when    the   Canadian  i<'e   she*'t   was 
sloAvly  melting  away.     Tlie  eft'ect  of  this  cliangv  was  to  tip  or 
cant  each  lake  basin,  and  the  effect  of  the  cantin.^' was  similar  t.. 
tin'  ett'ect  of  canting  a  hand  Itasin  containing  water.      In   the 
hand  l)asin  the  water  rises  on  the  side  toward  which  the  l.asin  is 
tipped,  an<l  falls  away  on  the  opposite  side.      In  the  lake  hasiii 
there  was  u  constant  supply  of  Avater  from  rain  an<l  streams,  so 
that  it  was  always  filled  up  to  the  level  of  the  lowest  point  of  its 
rim,  and   the  surplus  of  water  Howed  away  at  that  itoiiit  ;  so. 
when  it  was  canted,  the  changes  in  the  extent  of  the  lake  were 
partly  controlled  l>y  the  <»utflow.     If  the  outlet  was  on  the  north- 
eastern side  of  the  liasiii,  the  southwesterly  canting  would  make 
the  water  rise  ahnig  its  southwestern  shore,  the  suhmergetl  area 
l)ehig  thereby  enlarged.    Jf  the  outlet  was  toward  the  southwest, 
theu^the  canting  would  (b-aw  the  water  away  from  the  n<»rth- 
eastern  slopes,  and  diminish  tin'  submerged  area.     If  the  l(»\ves1 
point  of  the  rim  was  originally  on  the  northeasl  side,  the  caul  mu' 
might  lift  this  part  of  the  rim  so  high  that  some  point  on  the 
soivthwest  side  would  become  lowest,  an<l  the  ]>oint  <»f  outlet  miglil 
thus  be  changed  from  north  (»r  east  to  south  or  west.     The  evi- 
<lence  of  the  old  shoivs  an<l  channels  shows  that  all  these  possil/le 
changes  have  actually  occurred  in  the  lake  basins,  and  that  s<.nie 
of  them  were  related  in  an  important  way  to  tlu'  history  of  the 

Niagara  River. 

The  gradual  canting  affe<-ted  the  size  of  Lake  Krie,  Lake 
Ontario,  and  the  temporary  Lake  Iroipiois,  making  each  grow 
toward  the  s(Uithwest.  When  Lake  Erie  was  hoi-n.  its  length 
could  not  have  been  more  than  half  as  great  as  now.  and  its  area 
was  n)uch  small. 'r.  The  original  Lake  Huron  may  have  ha.l 
about  the  same  size  as  the  present  lake,  but  its  b.rm  and  positn.n 
were  ditt'erent.  L(>ss  land  was  coveivd  at  the  south  and  west, 
more  land  at  the  north  and  east,  and  the  outlet  was  at  North 
Bay  (.V,  Fig.  ID)-  ^^Y  ^^i''  tipping  of  the  basin  the  lake  was 
made  graduallv  to  expand  toward  the  west  and  south  till  at  last 
the  water  reached  the  pass  at  the  hea<l  of  the  St.  Clair  Kiver. 
Soon  afterward  the  water  ceased  tiowing  through  the  North  Bay 
outlet  The  water  then  gradually  withdrew  from  the  northeast- 
eru  re«iou  till  linallv  the  shores  assumed  their  present  position. 


i 


,    il'i 


5l 


230 


NIAGARA    FALLS    ANI>    IHEUi    HISTOllV. 


At  ail  <>arlit'r  stajiv,  wliile  the  North  May  district  was  l)lockt'(l  l)y 
the  ice  sheet,  it  is  })r()l»al»le  that  the  Itasin  had  an  outk't  iieai" 
Lake  Siineoe  (N),  l»ut  the  evidence  of  this  is  less  coini)lete.  If 
the  Ilnron  water  crossed  the  basin's  rim  at  that  point,  it  followed 
the  Trent  valley  to  Tiake  Ircxiuois  or  Lake  Ontario;  when  it 
crossed  the  rim  at  Xorth  Bay,  it  f(»llowed  the  Ottawa  valley  to 
the  St.  Lawrence;  and  in  each  case  it  reached  the  ocean  withont 
passing  thronju'li  Lake  Erie  and  the  Niaj^ara  Riv(>r.  Thus  there 
Avas  a  time  Avhen  the  Niagara  Kiver  received  no  water  from  the 
Huron,  Michigan,  or  Su|»erioi'  Itasins,  but  from  the  Erie  basin 
alone.  It  was  then  a  comj)aratively  small  stream,  for  the  Erie 
basin  is  only  one  eigiith  of  the  whole  district  now  tributary  to 
the  rivei-;  and  the  cataract  more  nearh'  resembled  the  Amei'ican 
Fall  than  the  Hoi-seshoe. 


THi:    WHIRLPOOL. 


The  \Vliiilpo(»l  is  a  peculiar  poinr  in  the  course  of  the  river. 
Not  only  docs  the  channel  there  make  an.  a,bru])t  turn  to  the 
right,  but  with  e(|ual  abruptness  it  is  enlarged  and  again  con- 
ti'acted.  The  pool  is  a  d»'ep  oval  basin,  citnununicating  through 
narrow  gateAvays  with  the  goi'ge  al)ovc  and  the  gorge  below. 
The  torrent,  rushing  Avith  the  speed  of  an  ocean  greyhound  from 
the  svei^p,  shalloAV  jiassage  known  as  the  Whirljiool  Rapids, 
enters  the  pool  and  courses  over  its  surface  till  its  lieadAvay  is 
checked.  The  initial  im])uls(»  jn'eA'ents  it  from  turning  at  once 
toward  the  channel  of  exit,  and  the  cui'rent  circl(»s  to  the  left  in- 
stead of  the  right,  folloAving  the  curved  margin  of  the  pool,  and 
finally  descending  under  the  entering  stream  so  as  to  I'ise  beyond 
it  at  the  outlet.  Thus  the  Avatei'  (h^scribes  a  conii)leto  loo]>,  a 
]»eculiarity  of  cui-rent  ([uite  as  remarkable  and  rare  as  the  feats 
of  raihvay  engineering  which  bear  that  name.  In  the  chart  of 
the  Whirlpool  (Fig.  20)  the  surface  currents  are  indicated  by 
arroAvs ;  and  some  idea  of  the  appearance  of  the  currents  may  be 
obtained  from  the  view  in  Fig.  7,  where  the  swift  incoming  cur- 
rent crosses  the  foreground  from  right  to  left,  and  the  exit  cur- 
rent occupies  the  mi<ldle  of  the  ]»icture.  In  the  smoother  tract 
betAveen  these  two  visible  cun-ents  the  Avat<'r  rises  after  passing 
imder  the  nearer.  These  curi'ents  can  be  watched  from  any  of 
the  surrounding  cliffs,  and  there  is  a  fascination  about  them  akin 
to  that  of  the  cataract  itself  and  the  AVhirlpool  Kapids. 


'iiiK  \\iiii;li'o(>l. 


•j;;i 


F\>..  •_>(!. —The  Wliil'l|M.nl. 

liock  is  iiiiliiMtfil  by  cmsslintcliiiur;  dril't, 

l>y  (lots.     Arrows  iii(li<iilo  tin- 

(tiri'ction  of  current. 


The  ^'oro-e  above,  tlic  ,uof,iiv  Ix'low,  and  two  sides  of  the 
Whirlpool  are  walled  by  rock;  hut  the  reinaiiiiiiii'  si(h',  that  op- 
posite to  the  iiieoniiu.u-  stream,  shows  no  rock  in  its  wall  (Fiys. 
20  and  21).  On  the  north  .side,  the  ed<>'e  ol'  the  Xia.iiai'a  hineston.' 
fan  be  trueed  to  A  (Fi.u'.  20)  with  all  its  usual  chni'aetiM-.s  Imt 
there  it  disappears  ]»eneath  the  drift.  The  Clinton  limestone 
disai)pears  in  a  similar  way  Just 
below  it,  and  the  ([uai'tzose  sand- 
stone, which  there  skii'ts  the  mar- 
gin of  the  water,  is  a  little  more 
qnickly  covere<l,  Ix'inu'  hist  seen 
at  />'.  On  the  south  l)ank  the 
Niaf»Tira  limestone  can  Ite  traced 
fai'ther.  Its  edg-e  is  visible  almost 
ecnitinuonsly  to  A',  and  is  laid 
bare  hi  the  bed  of  a  small  creek 
at  ./''.  The  Clinton  bed  is  simi- 
larly traeeable,  with  slight  in- 
terruption, to  I);  and  the  (piart- 
zose  sandstone  passes  nn<lei'  tlie 
drift  at  ('.  Where  each  ro"k  le(lgt>  is  last  seen  it  }>oints  toward 
the  northwest,  and  betrays  no  tendency  to  curve  around  and 
join  its  fellow  in  the  ojiposite  wall.  In  the  intei-vening  sjiacc 
the  side  of  the  goi'ge  seems  to  be  com]>osed  entirely  of  drift. 
Hand  and  clay,  pebbles  and  bowhU'rs,  make  u[)  the  slope;  and  a 
beaeh  of  bowldei's  margins  the  water  from  //io  ('.  ii  is  infcned 
from  this  arraugenient  of  rock  and  drift  that  thei'e  was  a  dcp 
hollow  in  \ho  plain  befoi'e  the  drift  was  spread  by  the  ice.  th<' 
drift  being  dei)osited  in  it  and  over  it  until  it  was  filled  and 
covered.  The  parallel  dii'ections  of  the  i-ock  ledges  suggest  that 
the  hollow  was  part  of  a  stream  channel  running  northwestwai'd  ; 
and  this  interpretation  is  borne  out  uot  only  by  certain  to[>o- 
graphie  featnres  two  or  three  miles  away,  Imt  by  a  stud;-'  of  the 
bed  and  banks  of  Bowman  (*reek  (Fig.  1")).  That  stream,  which 
rises  two  miles  away,  has  carved  a  ravine  where  it  approaches 
the  Whirlpool.  The  noi'theast  bank  of  the  i-avine  (Fig.  20)  setMiis 
to  be  composed  entirely  of  drift;  but  the  op])osite  bank,  thousjh 
cliietly  of  drift,  lays  l»are  the  rock  at  a  innnber  of  places,  reveal- 
ing a  sloping  wall  descending  towai'd  the  northeast.  The  bed 
of  the  stream  in  general  shows  nothing  but  di'ift ;  but  theiv  is 
one  place  where  the  creek  swerves  a  little  to  tlie  southward,  and 


•J.-J-J 


MAdAKA    lALLS    AM)     lllKIi;    IIIHTOKY. 


k 


for  a  few  roils  jtrt'sscs  aiiiiinst  the  rock  slope;  jiiid  it  has  there 
made  a  siuall  cut  into  the  rock,  cascadiiiu'  at  one  point  over  a 
sandy  ledj^c  that  is  harder  than  th«'  associated  shale. 

With  the  aid  of  tliis  information,  it  is  easy  to  understand  the 
pi'culinr  features  of  the  \Vhii-l)>ool.  ^riie  Xia<>aj"a  Kiver  did  not 
seek  this  old  channel  and  thus  find  an  easy  way  northward,  hut 
ran  U[)on  it  accidentally  at  one  ))oint.  Its  coni'se  on  the  jdain 
was  determined  for  it  hy  the  slopes  of  tlu'  drift,  and  the  arranj^e- 
meiit  of  these  slojx's  hai)pened  to  iiiiide  the  water  aci'oss  the 
buried  channel  at  the  AVhirli)ool.  In  malgni;'  th<'  w'<>'"p!."<'  from  the 
AVhirljxM*!  to  the  escari»uient,  an<l  also  in  makin«;'  the  u])i)er  part 
of  the  .n'oru'c,  the  I'iver  found  hard  I'ock  to  he  reuioved;  and  it 
woi'ked  as  a  quarryman,  diii',i;in,u'  d<»wn  helow  in  the  softer  rocks 
with  such  tools  as  it  had  to  use,  and  thus  underminin.u,'  the  lime- 
stone ca}).  At  the  AVhirlpool  there  was  no  uee<l  to  (juarry,  be- 
cause there  was  no  limestoue  cap;  and,  to  carry  out  the  homely 
fiii'ure,  the  i-iver  mei'cly  du*;'  in  a  li'ravel  pit,  sliovelinj>;  the  loose 
drift  ([uickly  away.  This  work  of  excavation  did  not  cease 
when  a  channel  of  the  usual  width  had  b«'en  opened,  because  the 
auii'le  in  the  course  of  the  river  set  the  <'urreut  stron<>:ly  against 
the  bank  of  drift,  and  caused  it  to  dear  out  a  basin  in  the  old 
<'hannel.  Ha<l  the  drift  been  wholly,  as  it  is  pai'tly,  of  saud,  still 
more  of  it  avouM  have  been  carried  out;  but  it  incluih'd  large 
bowldei's,  aud  tli'se  were  soi-ted  out  aud  accuuiulated  until  they 
uiade  a  sloping  wall  or  sheathiug',  wliieh  covers  all  that  part  of 
the  sand  below  the  level  of  the  pool,  and  resists  further  enoroaeh- 
uieut  by  the  water.  So  the  peculiar  forui  of  the  i'iver  at  this 
place  was  caust'd  by  the  old  chaunel  with  its  tilling  of  loose  sand 
and  gravel.  The  looped  current  evidently  depends  on  the  pecul- 
iar shape  of  the  channel.  The  water  enters  the  pool  with  such 
iuipetus  that  it  is  carried  past  the  outlet,  and  the  I'eturu  curreut 
follows  th(^  bottom  of  the  pool  because  that  route  is  the  easiest. 


TIME. 


Just  under  the  escarpuient  where  it  is  divided  by  the  river 
staud  two  villages, — the  American  village  of  Lewistou,  the 
Caiuidian  village  of  Queenstou.  Lewistcni  is  built  partly  ou  au 
old  beach  of  Lake  Ii'ocjuois,  and  near  its  steauiboat  wharf  is  a 
gravel  j>it  where  one  cau  see  the  pebbles  that  Avere  wovu  round 
by  rolling  up  and  doAvn  the  old  strand.    That  part  of  the  escarp- 


TiMK.  '2:ys 

uieut  whicli  overlooks  Lewistoii  is  souicwliat  ttM-rjicod,  oi' divided 
into  st»')>s,  ;iiid  was  called  "The  Tlifee  Mountains"  a  century 
aji'o,  when  loads  that  had  ]»een  hrou.u'ht  by  hoat  to  the  landing' 
(Lewiston)  Avere  toilsomely  cai'i-ied  up  the  steep  ascent  on  t  .eir 
way  to  othei'  Itoats  j>lyin<i,-  on  the  upjtei-  Nia^'ava. 

The  escarpment  a  hove  (^ueenston  is  called  (^)ueenst on  Ileiiihts; 
and  from  its  ei'est  rises  Brock's  monument,  a  slen<ler  slialt  <'oni- 
memorati\e  of  a  battle  between  iii'itish  iind  Amei'ican  soldiers. 
Within  this  shaft  is  a  s])ii-al  staircase,  and  tVoin  a  little  chambei- 
neai'  the  toji  one  can  look  throunh  ]>ortholes  fai'  away  in  all 
•  lirections.  Eastward  and  westward  inns  the  escarjtnient,  and 
the  eye  follows  it  for  uiany  miles.  South wai-d  stretdies  the 
n]>})er  ])laiii,  di\'ei*sitied  by  low,  rolling"'  hills,  and  divided  in  the 
foreground  by  the  .n'org'e.  lu  the  still  air  a  clovid  of  spi-ay  ho\-- 
ers  over  the  cataract,  and  a  cloud  of  smoke  at  th<'  hori/on  tells 
of  Buffalo.  Northward  lit's  lilue  Ontario,  and  strai^'lit  tn  its 
shore  flows  the  (h>ep-elunnieled,  majestic  Niagara,  di\idini;'  the 
smooth  «jreen  loAvland  into  ])arts  even  nioi'c  closely  kin  than  the 
Iti'other  uatious  by  which  they  are  tilled.  Beyond  the  Avatei-,  an<l 
forty  unles  away,  ji'leams  Scarboi'o  ( 'liff,  where  the  lake  waves  are 
underniiniuii"  a  hill  of  drift;  and  twentv  or  thirty  uiiles  farther 
the  iina«'iuation  may  supply — wliat  the  eai'th's  roundness  <'on- 
ceals  froui  the  eye  —  a  hiuher  upland  that  l)oun<ls  the  Ontario 
basin. 

Tlie  Bi'ock  uionuuient,  theXiaijara  jioru'c,  and  the  Ontario 
basin  aiv  three  pnxlucts  of  human  or  of  natural  work,  so  related 
to  time  that  their  mapiitudes  help  the  mind  in  g'raspinii;  the  time 
factor  in  Nia,iiara  history.  The  monument,  measured  in  diameter 
by  feet  and  in  heiiilit  by  scores  of  feet,  stands  for  the  epoch  of 
the  wlnte  nuin  in  Amei-ica.  The  li'orj^i',  measured  in  width  l»y 
hundreds  of  yards  and  in  length  ]>y  miles,  stands  for  the  ejioch 
since  the  ice  age.  The  basin,  measured  in  width  by  sco)-es  of 
miles  and  in  length  by  hundreds  of  miles,  stands  foi'  a  period  be- 
fore the  ice,  when  the  u]»lands  and  lowlands  of  the  region  were 
carved  fi-om  a  still  greater  upland.  The  monument  is  half  a 
century  old;  the  gorge  was  begun  some  tens  or  hundreds,  or 
possddy  tliousands,  of  centuries  ago;  and  the  hollowing  of  the 
basin  c<»nsumed  a  time  so  far  lieyond  oui'  compi'eliension  that 
we  can  only  say  it  is  related  to  the  gorge  epoch  in  sonu'  su<'h  way 
as  the  gorge  epoch  is  related  to  the  monument's  half  century. 

The  glacier  nuide  changes  in  the  Ontario  l»asin.  but  they  were 


2M 


MA(i.\ll.\    I'AIJ-S    AND    TIIKIl!    IIISToKW 


I   I 


I  • 


I 


siimll  in  oomiiarisoii  willi  its  ori«;iiml  si/r,  uiid  the  hasiii  is  cliiolly 
the  work  of  other  nji;<'iits.  Hct'oi'c  tlic  jjUumuI  »<;•«'  it  was  a  I'ivcj- 
vallry,  uixl  we  may  obtain  sonic  idea  of  its  oi'i<;Mii  ])y  tliiiikiii<;'  of 
tlir  Nia,uara  ,uor<;»'  as  tlic  l)('<iinnin<;'  of  a  I'ivrf  valley,  and  ti'vin<;' 
to  inia>;iiH'  its  mode  of  j^rowinj;'  hi'oadcr.  It  lias  already  Iieeii 
exi)laiiied  (p.  2lS)  tluit  the  ^orjic  walls  fall  hack  a  littl«>  after  the 
cataract  has  hewn  them  out,  but  seem  to  eonie  to  rest  as  soon  as 
all  the  shale  is  covered  by  talus.  So  uearly  do  they  ai>i>roacli 
rest  that  their  protile  is  as  steep  near  the  mouth  of  the  ,ti'or<;e  as 
it  is  one  mile  below  the  cataract;  but,  in  fact,  they  are  not  un- 
changiiijj,.  \Vat»M'  ti"ickliii<i,'  over  the  limestone  clitt"  dissolves  a 
uiinuteiiuantity  of  the  rock.  This  makes  it  porous,  tiud  lichens 
take  I'oot.  Licheusand  other  plants  add  something;'  to  the  watei- 
tha.  incrt'ases  its  solvent  jMnver.  The  frau'nients  of  the  talus  aic 
eaten  faster  b(>cause  they  exiyose  uiore  surface.  Each  winter  the 
frost  distui'bs  some  of  the  stones  of  the  talus,  so  that  they  slowly 
uiove  down  tlio  slope;  aud  whei-ever  the  shale  is  laid  bare,  frost 
and  i-ain  attack  it  agaiu.  Thus,  with  ahnost  intinite  slowness, — 
so  slowly  that  tlu'  entire  aji"<'  of  the  gorji,*'  is  too  short  a  unit  for 
its  measurement, — the  walls  of  the  gor^'c  are  reti'cating  from  the 
river.  At  the  same  tiuie  e\-ery  creek  that  falls  into  the  gorye  is 
making  a  narrow  side  goi'ge.  The  strongest  of  them  has  worked 
back  only  a  few  Innalred  feet  (Fig.  1."));  but  in  time  they  will 
trench  the  i»lain  in  many  dii-ections,  aud  each  trench  will  open 
two  walls  to  the  attack  of  the  elements.  Spa<'e  foi'bids  that  we 
trace  the  2)rocess  further;  but  enough  has  been  said  to  sIk)w 
that  valleys  are  made  far  more  slowly  than  gorges,  and  that  the 
ancient  shaping  of  the  land  into  valley  and  upland  was  a  far 
greatei'  task  than  the  comparatively  modern  digging  of  the 
gorge. 

The  middle  tei'ui  of  our  time  scale,  the  age  of  the  gorge,  has 
excited  great  interest,  because  the  visihle  work  of  the  river  and 
the  visible  dimensions  of  the  gorge  seem  to  afford  a  means  of 
measuring  in  years  one  of  the  periods  of  which  geologic  time  is 
com})osed.  To  measure  the  age  of  the  river  is  to  determine  the 
anti([uity  of  the  close  of  the  ice  age.  The  pi-incipal  data  for  the 
UK^isurenient  are  as  follows:  (1)  The  gorge  now  grows  longer  at 
the  rate  of  four  or  five  feet  a  year,  and  its  total  length  is  six  or 
seven  miles.  (2)  At  the  Whirlpool  the  rate  of  gorge  making- 
was  relatively  very  fast,  bt>cause  oidy  loose  material  had  to  be 
removed.    Whether  the  old  channel  ended  at  the  Whirljiool,  or 


TIME. 


L':i5 


oxteiult'd  for  somo  distance*  southwiii'd  on  tlu*  line  <»r  the  river,  is 
u  matter  of  doubt.  (IJ)  Part  of  the  time  the  volume  of  the  river 
was  so  much  h>ss  that  the  rate  of  recession  wns  more  like  that  of 
tlie  American  Fall  than  that  of  the  Horseshoe.  Some  sug«;estions 
as  to  the  compai'ative  extent  of  sk)W  work  iind  fast  work  are  to 
be  obtained  from  the  })rofil(*  of  the  bottom  of  the  ju:orf;;e.  \Vhilt3 
the  vobime  of  the  river  was  Uirge,  we  may  supposi*  that  it  dug 
deeply,  just  !  it  now  digs  nn(h'r  tlu'  Horseshoe  Fall  (see  p.  I'K!) ; 
while  tlie  volume  was  small,  we  may  suppose  that  a  deep  pool 


Fio.  '21.  —  Lonffitudiiial  Section  of  tlio  Ningiira  Gorgp,  with  Dia(?i'am  of  tlic 

Wfstt'ni  Wall. 

The  biiHP  line  i»  iit  sen  Icvfl.    It  1«  (Uvldcd  into  iiiIIph.    Wntor,  hliick ;  drift,  (lotted;  Niiipira 

limestone  in  bloek  pattern  ;  Hliiiles,  lirolien  lines;  K,  tallH:  It,  liillway  liridgen; 

W,  whirlpool;  Foster,  Foster  l-'lat*;  K,  eseuriiiuent. 

was  not  nuide.  Fig.  121  exhibits  the  approximate  deitth  of  the 
water  channel  through  the  length  of  the  gorge;  and  by  examin- 
ing it  the  reader  will  see  tluit  the  depth  is  great  near  the  mouth 
of  the  gorge,  again  from  the  head  of  Foster  Flats  to  the  Whirl- 
pool, aud  theu  from  the  bridges  to  the  Horseshoe  Fall.  It  is 
small,  imlicating  slow  recession,  in  th<>  neighborhood  of  Foster 
Flats,  and  also  between  the  AVhirlpool  and  the  railroad  lii'idges. 
The  problem  is  coni})licat(>d  by  other  factors,  but  they  are  prob- 
ably less  important  than  thost^  stated. 

Before  the  nuidtn-u  rate  of  recession  had  been  det(n'mined, 
there  were  many  estimates  of  the  age  of  the  river;  l)ut  their 
basis  of  fact  was  so  slender  that  they  were  hardly  more  than 
guesses.  The  first  estimate  with  a  better  foundation  was  made 
by  Dr.  eTulius  Pohlman,  who  took  account  of  the  measured  rate 
of  recession  and  the  iulluence  of  the  old  <'liannel  at  the  Whirl- 
pool ;  he  thought  the  I'iver  not  older  than  3,500  years.  Dr.  J.  W. 
Spencer,  adding  to  these  factors  the  variations  in  the  river's 
volume,  computes  the  river's  age  as  3'2,()()()  years.  Mr.  Warren 
Upham,  having  the  same  facts  before  him,  thinks  7,000  years  a 
more  reasonable  estimate.  And  Mr.  F.  B.  Tayloi',  while  re- 
garding the  data  as  altogether  insufficient  for  the  solution  of 
the  problem,  is  of  opinion  that  Mr.  Upham's  estimate  should  be 
multiplied  by  a  number  consisting  of  tens  rather  than  units. 
Thus  estimates  founded  on  substantially  the  same  facts  range 


Ml 


236 


NIAOAKA   FALLS   AND    IIIKIIi    HIHTUllV. 


from  thousands  of  yoars  to  hundreds  of  thoustuuls  of  years. 
For  niyself,  I  uni  disposed  to  agree  with  Mr.  Taylor,  that  no  es- 
timate yet  made  has  great  value,  and  tlie  liest  result  ol>tttinable 
nuiy  perhaps  bo  only  a  rough  approximation. 


'•I'l 


BOOKH  Ol'  HKFEKENCE. 

Hall,,  Basii,,  U.N.  Forty  Etcliiii>,'H,  fnnii  SkctchcH  iiiado  with  tlir>  Pnmpra  Liwlda  in 
Nortli  Aim-rica  in  \H'2~  mid  W2H.     K(liiil)iii%'li  and  London,  1S'_'!). 

Haul,  .Iamks.  Niafjtara  Falls:  itH  rant,  i'rcscnt,  and  iVoHpective  CoudiUon  (Nat. 
HiHt.  of  New  York,  Ueohw,  I'art  IV.).     AUiaiiy,  1H4;!. 

Lyki.i-,  CiiAUi.KH.     TnivcU  in  North  Amorica.     London,  1H45. 

Tyndai.l,  .FoiiN.     Some  CMisi-rvations  on  Niaj,'ara  (Popular  Science  Monthly,  vol.  iii., 

IHTIt). 
PoiiLMAN,  .Ti-Mfs.     Th(*  Life-History  of  Niagara  (TraiiH,  Am.  Inst.  M ining  Engineers, 

1888). 
GlUiKUT,  a.  K.     Tho  History  of  the  Niagara  River  (Sixth  Ann.  Kept,  romniissioners 

State  Ueservation  at  Niagara).     All)any,  1890. 
KiBBE,  Auo.  8.     Kcport  of  the  Survey  to  determine  the  Crest  Lines  of  the  Falls  of 

Niagara   in   1890    (Seventh   Ann.    Kept.    Commissioners    State    Ueservation    at 

Niagara).     Albany,  1891. 
SiiAi.EK.  N.  S.    The  Oeology  of  Niagara  Falls  (The  Niagara  Book).     BulTalo,  1893. 
Si'ENCEK,  J.  VV.     Tho  Duration  of  Niagara  Falls  (Am.  .Tour.  Science,  3d  Series,  vol. 

xlviii.,  1894). 
Tayi.oh,  F.  H.     Niagara  and  the  Ureat  Lakes  (Am.  Jour.  Science,  3d  Series,  vol. 

xlix.,  189u). 


Mr«'^i'.  .'li. 


